-MUT-

Member holdings

MUT at present preserves about 5300 strains belonging to almost all classes of filamentous fungi (mainly mitosporic fungi followed by Basidiomycetes, Ascomycetes and Zygomycetes) and some yeasts belonging to about 1100 species.

Services offered

  • Isolation and identification (with conventional and molecular techniques) of fungi from different substrates.
  • Distribution of fungal cultures for research and biotechnological applications.
  • Preservation of fungal strains for safe and public deposit.
  • Screening and characterization of fungal cultures for useful properties.
  • Lyophilization of micro-organisms.
  • Teaching and training.
  • Consultancy service.

Research

  • Ex situ preservation of fungal species belonging to different classes and development of new protocols for their conservation (cryopreservation, liophylization, etc.).
  • Isolation of fungi from air, drinking water and food with the production of a taxonomic database of food- and airborne fungi and the set up of electronic identification keys.
  • Studies of the mycoflora of extreme and/or polluted environments.
  • Isolation and selection of fungal strains with high degradative capabilities against different pollutants (i.e. PAHs, PCB, industrial dyes, petroleum, etc.).
  • Studies on biodegradation and biosorption mechanisms of fungi against different xenobiotics (i.e. PAHs, PCB, industrial dyes, petroleum, etc.).
  • Marine fungi from seagrasses and algae.
  • Screening of fungi for secondary metabolites productions i.e. enzymes to be used in different biotrasformation processes or metabolites of pharmaceutical interest.

Quality Management System

MUT is ISO 9001:2008 certified.