The Microbial Culture Collection (now called the National Centre for Microbial Resource, NCMR) is a microbial culture collection centre in
Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
, India. The facility acts as a national depository, supplying authentic microbial cultures and providing related services to research institutions, universities, industries and the scientific community in general. It is funded by the
Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
The MCC is affiliated to the
National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS). It is also an affiliate member of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) and is registered with the
World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM) under registration number 930.
The MCC has a status of
International Depositary Authority (IDA), certified in April 2011 by the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Switzerland, as well as by the
World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC). The deposit of microorganisms is recognized under the
Budapest Treaty to fulfill the requirement of patent procedure in 55 member countries.
The MCC scientists are actively involved in the research programmes relating to
microbial diversity,
metagenomics,
ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
and
taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy
Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...
, using both classical and molecular approaches.
Objectives
* Isolation and identification of
microorganisms from various environmental niches.
* Preservation of microbial
biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
from niche areas as
metagenomic libraries.
* Development of new strategies for isolation of "not yet cultured"
microbes.
* To provide consultation services for patent deposits, preservation, propagation, bio-deterioration, industrial problems,
biosystematics and microbial biodiversity issues etc.
* To establish and conduct
workshops,
seminar
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some part ...
s,
symposia and training programmes in the area of
microbial identification,
preservation
Preservation may refer to:
Heritage and conservation
* Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible
* ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...
and advanced areas of
microbial taxonomy and
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...
.
See also
*
European Culture Collections' Organisation (ECCO), Denmark
*
German Resource Centre for Biological Material (DSMZ), Germany
*
Culture Collection, University of Göteborg (CCUG), Sweden
*
American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), United States
*
Japan Collection of Microorganisms (JCM), Japan
*
World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC)
References
{{Reflist
External links
National College Culture Collection CentreWFCC-MIRCEN World Data Centre for MicroorganismsCABRIInternational Congress of Culture CollectionsThe International Air Transport AssociationECCO (European Culture Collection Organisation)
Culture collections
Microbiology organizations
Biotechnology in India