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THE NATIONAL CULTURE BANK (NCB). A NEW ITALIAN CULTURE COLLECTION
R.LOCCI Chair of Mycology, Udine University, Italy
Code Number: AC92012
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In the first issue of the new series of this journal it
was mentioned that one of the aims of the International Centre
for Theoretical and Applied Ecology (CETA), the
organisation that sponsors Actinomycetes, was to establish a
national culture collection of microorganisms.Time has gone by and the project has suffered many delays, mainly due to economical problems. Nevertheless the National Culture Bank (NCB) will be officially opened on January ist, 1993. Establishing a culture collection on the eve of the third millennium of our so-called civilisation may seem prepos- terous, though some people may wonder why it has taken so long to embark on an adventure of this type. Italy does not have a general collection of microorganisms. There are some specialised accumulations in the country, the result of personal interest, hardly known and often hardly accessible. Most of them are kept as herbaria with little or no interest in development or contact with foreign institutions. The starting point was the culture collection of the Department of Plant Defence of Udine University (Locci and Milani, 1989) consisting of some 700 strains, mainly actinomycetes. To these a series of eukaryotic cultures has been added over recent years and a catalogue of all the strains available is in preparation. The NCB is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the collection, preservation and distribution of cultures of living microorganisms and of plant and animal cells. The aims of the NCB are to maintain and distribute cultures of agricultural, industrial, scientific and educational importance, to supply facilities for their deposit, to collaborate with other culture collections and to carry out basic and applied research on selected groups of microorganisms. Contacts and exchanges with similar institutions are welcomed. Individuals or firms wishing to deposit strains are requested to specify the characteristics of the cultures on a form which is available from the NCB. Special arrangements can be made for deposit without accessioning and/or for patent strains. Under such circum- stances the depositor will maintain all proprietary rights. Deposits for maintenance will be accepted on a yearly basis to be agreed upon with the depositor. Following prior arrangement, streptomycetes and streptoverticillia can be identified. This will be carried out on a time/material charge basis. When mixed cultures are sent for identification and additional work is required for purification, higher fees may be requested. Identification of cultures deposited on a restricted basis will not be carried out by the NCB. Differential fees are applied for nonprofit organisations and for industrial institutions. Cultures can also be obtained on an exchange basis. Cultures infected by mites will be immediately destroyed and the depositor notified. Facilities are available at the NCB for the isolation and identification of microoganisms from particular substrates. Charges vary according to the magnitude of the work required and are arranged for each case. Further details can be found in the catalogue. At present the Curator of the Culture Bank is the author of this note and contact can be made at the following address:
Chair of Mycology Dip. Difesa Piante Udine University - Area Rizzi Via delle Scienze 208 33100 Udine, ItalyREFERENCES Locci, R. & N-Milani (1989). Catalogue Bacterial Strains. University of Udine, H edition, 70 pp. Copyright 1992 CETA
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