• Institution: Blue Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Culture Collection (LEGE-CC)
  • Acronym: LEGE-CC
  • Location:
    Blue Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Culture Collection (LEGE-CC)
    CIIMAR | Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto
    Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões
    Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
  • Website: https://lege.ciimar.up.pt/
  • Correspondent:
    Vitor Vasconcelos, LEGE-CC Coordinator : vmvascon@fc.up.pt
    João Morais, PortoLEGE-CC Curator: joaopmorais@gmail.com
    Phone number: (+351) 223 401 837
    Email: legeculturecollection@gmail.com

Member holdings

Blue Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Culture Collection (LEGE-CC) is a biological resource centre located at Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), that comprises more than 1000 different cyanobacterial and microalgae strains. Isolates have been obtained since 1991, from samples collected in different environments and locations. LEGE-CC strains were mainly isolated from Portuguese ecosystems (including Madeira and Azores Islands) but also from other countries worldwide (e.g. Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Morocco, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cape Verde). The fact that most of our strains were obtained from Portugal associated with rich phylogenetic diversity among cyanobacteria and microalgae groups confers uniqueness to LEGE-CC. Our strains are being screened over the years for a diverse range of purposes and targeting different applications and activities (e.g. anti-cancer, anti-biofouling, anti-microbial, anti-biofilm, anti-obesogenic and related diseases, cosmetics, food, etc.). Several studies demonstrated that our LEGE-CC stains have potential and effective capacity to produce a diverse array of metabolites, including toxins (e.g. microcystins, anatoxin, cylindrospermopsin and BMAA) or newly discovered molecules (Portoamides, Hierridin B and C, Bartolosides, Nocuolin A, etc). LEGE-CC is member of World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC), European Culture Collections Organisation (ECCO) and it is also part of the Research Infrastructure EMBRC.PT

Services offered

  • Culture supply to scientific community, industry and teaching institutions
  • Strain identification following modern taxonomy (combining molecular and morphological approaches)
  • Strain isolation
  • Public and safe deposits
  • Supply of genomic DNA of LEGE strains
  • Consultancy and training 

Research

  • Preservation and management of microbiological resources
  • Assessing cyanobacterial and microalgae diversity in a wide range of environments
  • Strain identification following modern taxonomy (combining molecular and morphological approaches)
  • Bioprospecting and screening

Quality Management System

Database monitoring all events and information for the collection.