-BCCM/MUCL-

The BCCM/MUCL public collection holds over 30.000 strains of filamentous fungi, yeasts and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, representing more than 1.400 genera and 5.000 species of Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes, Glomeromycetes, Oomycetes and Zygomycetes.

BCCM/MUCL includes many types of strains and isolates that have ecological, agro-environmental or biotech interest.

Moreover, BCCM / MUCL houses the Penicillium collection of Prof. P. Biourge (founder of the collection in 1894), the collection of Prof. J.A. Meyer of soil fungi from Central Africa, the general collection of Prof. G.L. Hennebert, the UCL brewery yeast collection as well as an unique collection of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi exclusively cultivated in vitro.

The mycological herbarium contains about 40.000 specimens.

• Supply of biological material (cultures or genomic DNA)
• Deposit of biological material for public access, safe deposit, patent deposit [Budapest Treaty]
• Analyses
  • Counting and isolation
    • Sample treatment followed by culture, colony count, isolation on suitable media
    • Spore sampling (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi)
    • Root colonisation test (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
    • Most Probable Number assay (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi)
  • Identification
    • DNA sequence-based identification
    • House fungi diagnostic (e.g. Serpula)
    • Microsatellite primed PCR-fingerprinting of yeasts
  • Characterisation
    • Physiological profiling of yeasts
    • Strain characterisation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by delta PCR
  • Assays
    • Material resistance testing against fungal damage
    • Performance testing of fungicides and fungistatic compounds
• Other services
  • Training of individuals or groups
    • Isolation, culture and preservation methods
    • Conventional and molecular identification
    • Taxonomy
    • International training on In Vitro Culture of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
  • Contractual and collaborative research
  • Scientific consulting

BCCM/MUCL research is mainly focused on the areas:

• Fungal diversity in natural ecosystems and agro-environments
• Agro-food: food and feed transformation and spoilage
• Fungal-plant interactions

Activities typically performed at BCCM/MUCL are oriented towards the

• Identification, taxonomy and classification
• Phylogenetic sequence analyses for gene and species evolution
• Detection and cultivation
• Preservation

of different fungal groups (lignocellulolytic fungi, fungi involved in food processing and spoilage,  fermentative yeasts, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, fungal pathogens in tropical environments).

For accession, control, preservation, storage and supply of biological material, the ISO 9001:2015 certification has been obtained.