Supply of cyanobacterial and microalga strains

Service description

1) Microalgal Service at the ICMAN commits to supply under client¿s request monoalgal inocula of susceptible strains to be sent from the Microalgal Marine Culture Collection and the ALGARED Collection. Each inocullum (3 ¿ 5 mL) Will be sent in a sterile tube screw-topped of 11 mL capacity to ensure enough air. Shipment includes a letter where strain codes are indicated. At client¿s request, information about the strain and culture procedure will be added without any additional cost. Only strains with proper permission will be sent: strains from other collections or without permission will not be sent. Shipment costs are paid by the client. Strains can not be sent to third parties. 2) Microalgal service commit to maintain, under annual contract, monoalgal strains at client¿s request. Cultures will be maintained by duplicate at least at two levels (3 mL tube and 20 mL flask), renewed every two weeks. Clients can exercise rights of confidentiality and restrict the use of the maintained strain for any activity. Inoculum of maintained strains will be supplied to the client without cost except shipping. 3) Microalgal service at the ICMAN offers the possibility of isolating monoalgal strains from a natural sample, by the use of techniques adapted to the simple characteristics: dilution, seeding in solid plates, micromanipulation or use of taxias. Clients can exercise rights of confidentiality and restrict the use of isolated strains for any activity. Once isolated, the monolagal strain will be sent to the client without cost except shipping. 4) Microalgal service offers the possibility of performing a toxicity bioassay by the use of a marine or freshwater monoalgal strain, including calculation of Effective Concentration 50% by measuring fluorescence of Chlorophyll or cellular counts by bright field microscopy or flow cytometry. Bioassays will be performed adapting ISO (for marine water) or OECD (for freshwater) guidelines for microalgal toxicity tests. (ISO. 1995. ISO 10253:1995(E). Water quality - Marine algal growth inhibition test with Skeletonema costatum and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Pp 1-8). (OECD (Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development) 1998. OECD guideline for testing of chemicals: alga, growth inhibition test. OECD, Paris, France). A complete report will be added describing all procedures developed to carry out the bioassays. Besides a control, at least five concentrations of the substance tested will be disposed in the bioassay. It is possible to test substances dissolved in a carrier, but an equal volume of pure carrier should be supplied by the client to stablish proper controls. EC50% calculation will be done by fitting a sigmoid curve following Hampel et al. (2001) protocol: (Hampel, M.; Moreno-Garrido, I.; Sobrino, C.; Lubián, L.M. & Blasco, J. 2001. Acute toxicity of LAS homologues in marine microalgae. Esterase activity and inhibition growth as endpoints of toxicity. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 48: 287-292). Cost of the service includes a possible pre-bioassay to stablish NOEC range and 100% inhibition concentrations for the assayed substance. Clients can exercise rights of confidentiality on the results obtained by the toxicity bioassay.

Service description

Supply of cyanobacterial and microalga strains to members of IBVF, as well as to others CSIC institutes and scientific institutions, national and international.

Service description

The culture collection of the Vigo Oceanographic Center (COV, IEO-CSIC) has about 300 strains of dinoflagellates, most of them clonal. It has the main harmful and/or toxic strains that have caused blooms in the Iberian Peninsula, and many that have caused recurrent episodes in Europe and America. It also has non-harmful but ecologically important organisms due to their nature as symbionts, such as the microalgae belonging to the Symbiodinium genus. The strains are maintained in isothermal chambers at 3 temperatures according to their isolation location and original habitat (15, 19 or 25ºC) in culture medium L1, f/2 or K, according to the requirements of the strain. They are identified morphologically and/or genetically, and their toxicity profile is also evaluated. The complete catalog is public on the center's website.