Tag: Belgium

Link to the project Consortium: BELSPO

University of Liège (ULiège) houses the Centre for Protein Engineering which in turn hosts the Cyanobacteria Collection (BCCM/ULC). BCCM/ULC is a recent public collection of cyanobacteria in a growth phase (220 strains with a focus on (sub)Polar Regions (Antarctica, Svalbard, Canada, etc.) established in 2011. Research is performed in polyphasic taxonomy, molecular identification and ecophysiology. It has a collection with lineages not yet well studied, with potential application for the screening and discovery of new bioactive compounds or molecules of biotechnological or cosmetical interest. It also has experience in the steps concerned with the cultivation and storage of strains, and the morphological and molecular characterisation of strains (using 16S rRNA, ITS, and sequences of alternative taxonomic markers, including the ones involved in the synthesis of cyanotoxins). BCCM/ULC will offer access to its expertise and infrastructure in the frame of the Transnational Access pilot programme in IS MIRRI21.

Link to the project Consortium: BELSPO

Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Belgium houses the Agro-food & Environmental Fungal Collection (BCCM/MUCL), a fungi collection dedicated to agro-food and environment within the laboratory of mycology. Research is mainly focused on the areas of fungal diversity in natural and anthropological ecosystems, agro-food (food and feed transformation and spoilage) and fungal-plant interactions. Activities typically performed at BCCM/MUCL are oriented towards the identification, taxonomy and classification, the phylogenetic sequence analyses for gene and species evolution, the detection, cultivation and preservation of different fungal groups (e.g. lignocellulolytic fungi, fungi involved in food processing and spoilage, fermentative yeasts, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, fungal pathogens in tropical environments). The tasks of BCCM/MUCL within the IS MIRRI21 project will involve the Transnational Access pilot programme and Training & Education programme.

Link to the project Consortium: BELSPO

Sciensano, a Belgian public health institute houses Fungi Collection for Human & Animal Health (BCCM/IHEM), a fungi collection dedicated to human and veterinary health which is embedded in the mycology & aerobiology laboratory. The collection preserves almost 16000 strains, the majority being human and animal pathogens, allergenic strains, mycotoxin producing species or various contaminants, isolated from clinical cases or from the human environment. The BCCM/IHEM collection has expertise in the isolation, characterisation and identification of these biomedical fungi by classical or molecular means or by MALDI-TOF MS, as the collection currently houses the largest reference spectra database in the world for medically relevant fungi. Moreover, the collection performs antifungal resistance testing, strain typing and other customer oriented analyses. BCCM/IHEM will offer access to its expertise and infrastructure in the frame of the Transnational Access pilot programme in IS MIRRI21.