Table 1.
Typology of culture collections with respect to collection, research and industry orientation.
| Culture collection type | Characteristics | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mainly infrastructure oriented | Activities mainly for culture identification, conservation and distribution | - The German Resource Centre for Biological Material (DSMZ) |
| - Collection de L’Institut Pasteur, Institut Pasteur (CIP) | ||
| - The Spanish Type Culture Collection (CECT) | ||
| - Japan Collection of Microorganisms (JCM) | ||
| 2. Specialised industry oriented culture collection | Culture collection mainly for supporting a specialised private sector activities | - Forintec Canada Corp. |
| 3. Mainly research oriented | Combining culture collection and conservation with major in house research for public purposes, typically located in universities | - Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-Organisms: BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection (LMG Ghent) |
| - Coriell Medical Research Institute | ||
| - National institute of allergy and infection disease | ||
| - Agricultural research service culture collection (NRRL) | ||
| 4. Specialised university research collections | Large in house collection, no systematic distribution service | - Institute of Fermentation Osaka |
| - Fusarium Research Centre, at PennState College of Agricultural Sciences | ||
| - Yale University CGSC Strain Collection (E. coli gen. stock cen) |
Source: Classifications are adapted from OECD (2001), and exemplified with information from PSMCs’ websites.