The Culture Collection of Basidiomycetes (CCBAS), held at the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS, v.v.i., was established in 1959 and now belongs to the Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology (headed by prof. RNDr. Petr Baldrian, PhD). The collection currently includes 519 strains of basidiomycetes, mainly wood-decomposing, but also soil and other species; new strains are continuously added. These are basidiomycetes from the class Agaricomycetes, mainly from the orders Agaricales, Polyporales, Hymenochaetales and Russulales. The Culture Collection of Basidiomycetes (CCBAS) also includes strains of fungi characterised by their ability to degrade various xenobiotics polluting wastewater or soil.
These properties have been tested and demonstrated in particular in the so-called white-rot fungi, which produce a set of enzymes involved in the decomposition of wood in nature and are also able to degrade pollutants present in the environment with these enzymes. Since 2003, CCBAS has been included in the The National Programme on Conservation and Utilization of Microbial Genetic Resources and Invertebrates of Agricultural Importance https://www.microbes.cz/index.html, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic; coordinated by the Crop Research Institute in Prague-Ruzyně https://www.vurv.cz/. Here is CCBAS listed as a collection of genetic resources of selected basidiomycetes (more than 300 strains) with economic importance for agriculture. The collection is a member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) https://wfcc.info/ and is registered in the World Data Centre of Microorganisms https://www.wdcm.org/under number 558.
CCBAS activities
Our fungal cultures are used for research purposes with regard to their physiology and biochemical activities. The collection serves as a source of basidiomycete cultures for research and teaching purposes, which is widely used by Czech and foreign workers. Other activities include consultations on the cultivation, physiology and genetics of basidiomycetes. The providing of strains from the CCBAS collection is always accompanied by an MTA or other internal document. Strains are always provided in accordance with the tasks arising from the implementation of the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) and the Nagoya Protocol.
Recipients of CCBAS strains are responsible for their safe storage, handling and use. Part of the work of the collection staff is the study of new and optimization of existing methods of mushroom preservation, their testing and implementation into practice. A new original method of cryopreservation of fungal cultures on perlite has been developed and verified in our laboratory and this method is used not only in our own but also in numerous foreign collections of fungi.
Documentation of strains
Data on cultures and CCBAS collection operations are stored in a database specifically developed for this function. The database program is continuously improved. The basis of the documentation are data on the scientific name of the strain (species, strain, variety), the culture medium, the conditions of cultivation, the origin of the strain (place and author of isolation, country of origin), the method of conservation and the date of the last recovery. Providing of the culture to other entities is recorded.
The electronic version of the strain catalogue is presented here as an XLSX file for MS Excel.
Methods of preservation of strains
All strains in the CCBAS collection are preserved using cryopreservation methods according to WFCC standards. Three methods of culture preservation are used in the CCBAS collection.
The first method of preservation is cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen, using perlite particles in cryotubes moistened with a wort medium as carriers for fungal mycelium. The culture samples thus prepared are frozen in a programmable computer-controlled IceCube device according to specific protocols (different for different fungal groups) and then placed in a liquid nitrogen container at -196 °C . Activation is then carried out by plating onto solid agar medium or into liquid medium.
The second method of preservation is storage at -70 °C in a freezer box, where samples are prepared in the same way as for storage in liquid nitrogen (i.e. frozen in perlite in cryotubes using IceCube), but the frozen cultures are placed in a freezer box at -70°C instead of liquid nitrogen. Activation is also done by plating onto solid agar medium or into liquid medium.
The third method of preservation consists in inoculating cultures on agar media in tubes (so-called slant agars) stored subsequently in a refrigerator at about 4-7 °C. The frequency of inoculation depends on the type of fungus preserved and varies between three and twelve months. For all cultures, a culture medium based on malt is used.