-BCCM/IHEM-

Groups of biological resources stored in the collection: yeasts, filamentous fungi.

BCCM/IHEM is a collection of fungi of medical and veterinary interest. It holds around 17000 strains of yeast and filamentous fungi, representing more than 500 genera and almost 2000 species: human and animal pathogens, allergenic species, mycotoxin producing strains, strains resistant towards antifungal drugs, or various contaminants from the human environment.

The BCCM/IHEM collection accepts pathogens up to the class of risk 3.

The BCCM/IHEM collection has incorporated the mycological collection of Raymond Vanbreuseghem (RV collection) which formerly belonged to the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp) and includes numerous valuable isolates from tropical regions.

Another interesting addition in the public BCCM/IHEM collection was the fungal collection from Janssen Pharmaceutica.

BCCM/IHEM conducts advanced research in fungal phylogeny and taxonomy, antifungal drug resistance, and the application of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for fungal identification. It also studies fungal biodiversity, has a strong focus on dermatophyte fungi, and participates in several collaborative projects related to mycotoxins and aerobiology.

Publications:

Masquelier J et al (2025) Validation of a LC-MS method for quantification of mycotoxins and characterization of fungal strains occurring in food and feed. Chemosensors 13: 106.

Debergh H et al (2024). Detection of pan-azole resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in horticulture and a composting facility in Belgium. Medical Mycology 62(7): myae055.

Pyrri I et al (2024) Variability in Alternaria alternata spore characteristics under different culture conditions: implications for automatic detection using air flow cytometry. Aerobiologia 40: 437–446.

Debergh H et al (2023) Pulmonary aspergillosis in Humboldt penguins - susceptibility patterns and molecular epidemiology of clinical and environmental Aspergillus fumigatus isolates from a Belgian zoo, 2017-2022. Antibiotics 12: 584.

Becker P et al (2023) Remarkable fungal biodiversity on northern Belgium bats and hibernacula Mycologia, 115: 484-498.

Bignoumba M et al (2023) High diversity of yeast species and strains responsible for vulvovaginal candidiasis in South-East Gabon. Journal of Medical Mycology 33: 101354.

Cornet L et al (2023) The GEN-ERA toolbox: unified and reproducible workflows for research in microbial genomics. GigaScience 12: 1-10.

Bian C et al (2022) Reducing the number of accepted species in Aspergillus series Nigri. Studies in Mycology 102: 95-132.

Jabet A et al (2022). Investigations upon the Improvement of Dermatophyte Identification Using an Online Mass Spectrometry Application. Journal of Fungi, 8 (1): 73.

Normand AC et al (2022) MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Online Identification of Trichophyton indotineae Using the MSI-2 Application. Journal of Fungi, 8 (10): 1103.

Baert F et al (2021) A polyphasic approach to classification and identification of species within the Trichophyton benhamiae complex. Journal of Fungi, 7 (8): 602.

Cornet L et al (2021) The taxonomy of the Trichophyton rubrum complex: A phylogenomic approach. Microbial Genomics, 7: 000707.

Normand AC et al (2021) Identification of Molds with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry: Performance of the Newly Developed MSI-2 Application in Comparison with the Bruker Filamentous Fungi Database and MSI-1. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 59(10): e01299-21.

Blaize M et al (2021). Antifungal Susceptibility of 182 Fusarium Species Isolates from 20 European Centers: Comparison between EUCAST and Gradient Concentration Strip Methods. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 65(12): e01495-21.