UAMH Centre for Global Microfungal Biodiversity

UAMH Centre for Global Microfungal Biodiversity

Promoting Collections

Promoting the work and sustainability of microbial culture collections

  • UAMH is Collection number 73 of the WFCC-MIRCEN World Data Centre (WDC) for Microorganisms
  • A biorepository member of the Global Registry of Biorepositories (GRBio)
  • GRBio now includes herbaria formerly listed in Index Herbariorum
  • 2012: Under auspices of he Federal Laboratory Interdepartmental Governance committee, the Scientific Collections Working Group held a meeting in Ottawa to review the current state of federal fungal collections and to plan for housing, moving or merging collections with change in programs or personnel. Although a University-based collection, the Microfungus Collection was represented at this meeting due to recognition at the federal level of its scientific and medical importance and concern about its current vulnerable state
  • 2007: Under auspices of CRTI Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI BIO-021), worked with stakeholders and Sporometrics, Inc. on a feasibility study to establish a strong Canadian network of culture collections.
  • See report below entitled National Centres for Secure Biological Resources
  • Participated in International Conference of Culture Collections, Goslar, Germany.
  • Former Chair, Mycological Society of America Committee on Culture Collections
  • 2004: Helped to improve the procedures for shipping microbial cultures worldwide to bona fide researchers by obtaining changes in transport and quarantine regulations.
  • 2004: Represented World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) at UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Geneva, Switzerland (July)
  • 2004: Culture collections in Canada: perspectives and problems. See this contribution and other articles published in Can J Plant Pathology. The papers were contributions to the workshop entitled Status of Microbial Genetic Resources and Culture Collections in Canada, held during The Canadian Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting in Montréal, Quebec, June 2003.
  • 1988: Task Force on the Status of Culture Collections in Canada established under the Ministry of State for Science and Technology (MOSST) submitted a report entitled "Culture Collections in Canada." Among the recommendations were the continued and expanded use of the NSERC Infrastructure program for funding microbial collections, the designation of strategic collections to advance Canadian goas in science and biotechnology, and the establishment of an advisory committee under MOSST.
  • 1988: See Padhye, A.A., J.E. Bennett, M.R. McGinnis, L.Sigler, A. Flis & I.F. Salkin. 1998. Biosafety considerations in handling medically important fungi. Medical Mycology 36(Suppl 1: 258-265.
  • See Report of the World Federation of Culture Collections Committee on Postal, Safety and Quarantine.

National Centres for Secure Biological Resources

Report produced for CRTI Research and Technology Initiative by Sporometrics, Inc.

The report proposes an infrastructure for linking Canadian microbiological resource centres to ensure the preservation of valuable microorganisms which are critical for research and development in both medical and environmental sciences. The proper maintenance of microorganisms requires secure facilities, equipment to facilitate long term storage and development of comprehensive information technology software for strain tracking.

Folio PublicationRead about us in Folio, the University of Alberta's official newspaper.

Read about Onychocola canadensis - a fungus causing nail and skin infections especially in elderly individuals.