Ex situ fungal conservation: the role of culture collections

Fungi merit protection no less than other living organisms. This is best effected using when ex situ conservation complements in situ conservation. Ex situ conservation means preservation and maintenance of fungal genetic resources in pure culture. Culture collections (“genetic resource collections” and “biological resource centres”) play a key role in successful storage of fungal strains. Specialist organizations direct global co-ordination of culture collection activities in conservation, research, and sustainable use of genetic resources. In Russia the largest culture collection preserving fungi (and various groups of micro-organisms) is the All-Russian Culture Collection (VKM), with over 5000 fungal strains. Ex situ conservation of macromycete diversity is carried out by the Komarov Botanical Institute Basidiomycetes Culture Collection (LE–BIN), a specialized collection maintaining taxonomic diversity of macromycetes with an emphasis on rare, endangered and ectomycorrhizal species, medicinal fungi, and strains useful for biotechnology. Currently that collection maintains over 1600 strains of about 600 species from 184 genera, 51 families, and 8 orders of macromycetes. The LE–BIN culture collection has been developed for ex situ conservation of as many macromycete species as possible