Federal departments: Agriculture, Public health/Environment, Economic affairs (Industrial Property), OSTC; Federated authorities: Flemish Community, French Community, Walloon Region, Brussels Capital City Region.
The main objectives of the BCCM supporting action are:
1. A controlled and complementary extension of the holdings of biological reference material, namely pure cultures of bacteria, fungi and yeasts on the one hand, and plasmids and cDNA libraries on the other hand;
2. A continuous actualization of the corresponding information and the optimization of the management and distribution of this information. Hereto the BCCM-collections take part in the 'Microbial Information Network Europe, MINE' and are active partners is the European CABRI-project (Common Access to Biotechnological Resources and Information);
3. An active expansion of the public services, namely:
- the distribution of biological reference material and corresponding information (e.g. catalogues and databanks);
- the acceptation of public, security and patent deposits (in the framework of the Budapest Treaty and European directives) of biological material (including animal and human cell lines);
- the valorization of the available know-how through services for third parties (e.g. isolation, identification, fine characterization and preservation of biological material, exclusive screening of unique strains for potential new products, etc.).
DESCRIPTION
The Belgian Coordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM) constitute a consortium of four complementary research based culture collections serving the scientific and industrial community on a world-wide basis, while keeping the Belgian needs especially in focus.
The BCCM collections underpin activities in a wide variety of key economic sectors such as agriculture, food, human and animal health, the environment, fine and bulk chemistry and also support the wood, paint and textile industries, principally in the area of biodeterioration.
Since the publication of its first series of catalogues in 1989, the BCCM has welcomed annually some 300 new clients. Both academics and a significant number of SMEs and large companies put their trust in the BCCM consortium.
The consortium offers a broad range of services, such as:
- The distribution of biological reference material:
Over 47.000 well-discribed and authenticated strains of bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeasts and more than 1.500 plasmids are readily available. Most important test, contral and bioassay strains are incorporated. Some 10 unique cDNA libraries, from fungal to human origin, are also available.
- The preservation of biological material:
Three types of deposits can be distinguished:
1. public deposits: strains and plasmids that are catalogued with a reference to the depositor and that can be distributed without restrictions;
2. safe deposits: industrially or medically important strains and plasmids can be deposited with the BCCM as a ‘security measure’. They remain the exclusive property of the depositor and are nor catalogued, nor distributed;
3. patent deposits: strains and plasmids that are deposited in the framework of the Belgian patent legislation or the international Budapest Treaty. The material is not catalogued and is only available under the stringent conditions of the Budapest Treaty.
The BCCM accept patent and safe deposits of:
- bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeasts;
- human and animal cell lines (including hybridomas);
- genetic material (e.g. plasmids, RNA, oncogenes).
The BCCM offer their clients also the possibility to freeze-dry biological material. They can also advice on the subject of the choice of optimal preservation methods and cryoprotectants.
- Services and contract research:
The BCCM's expertise includes:
- the isolation, identification, cultivation and preservation of strains;
- molecular fingerprinting (RFLP, RAPD, AFLP etc.) of industrially and medically important strains for Total Quality Management or patent purposes;
- exclusive screening of unique strains for potential new products (e.g. enzymes, antibiotics);
- material resistance testing of wood, paints, textiles and polymers, etc;
- molecular biology (e.g. sequenatie);
- electron microscopy, etc.
C2/005: BCCM/LMG, bacteria collection
C2/006: BCCM/LMBP, plasmid collection
C2/007: BCCM/MUCL, (agro-)industrial fungi/yeasts collection
C2/008: BCCM/IHEM, biomedical fungi/yeasts collection
BCCM Newsletter
Brussels: Federal Science Policy Office (PE003)
[To download]
[Exhausted]
BCCM-LMBP: plasmids cDNA libraries: catalogue 1998
Universiteit Gent. Laboratorium voor Moleculaire Biologie Brussels: OSTC, 1998 (SP0624)
[To download]
[To order]
BCCM-MUCL: agro-industrial fungi-yeasts: catalogue 1998
Mycothèque de l'Université catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve Brussels: OSTC, 1998 (SP0625)
[To download]
[To order]
BCCM-LMG: bacteria: catalogue 1998
Universiteit Gent. Laboratorium voor Moleculaire Biologie Brussels: OSTC, 1998 (SP0626)
[To download]
[To order]
Collections coordonnées belges de micro-organismes
Bruxelles: SSTC, 2000 (SP0629)
[To order]
Belgian coordinated collections of micro-organisms
Brussels: OSTC, 2000 (SP0630)
[To order]
Belgische gecoördineerde verzamelingen van micro-organismen
Brussel: DWTC, 2000 (SP0631)
[To order]
