General Information

The foundations of our algal culture collection were laid in 1974, when the first attempts to isolate single cells from a natural water sample led to the successful growth of clonal cultures of algae. The Culture Collection of Algae at the University of Cologne (CCAC) was formally established in spring 2001, when membership in the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) was acquired. CCAC is listed in the World Data Centre for Microorganisms under the registration number 807.

More than 2000 clonal cultures are currently maintained. Many of these strains are flagellates, indicating CCAC's present and future main subject of interest. Most of these cultures were established by members or guests of the "Melkonian group" and are held exclusively by CCAC. Some of our strains have also been deposited in other culture collections. From our collection of strains we offer to interested individuals and institutions a selection of axenic cultures of algae originating from freshwater or marine habitats. These cultures have strain numbers preceded by "CCAC". Selected strains, which are not available as axenic cultures, however, may be of interest to the scientific community, are marked with "B" at the end of the CCAC strain number. Information about our cultures, which have not yet been deposited in CCAC is available upon request.

CCAC accepts strains for deposition, if they are considered to be a valuable addition to the collection. Prospective depositors should contact the curator of CCAC.

CCAC has acquired diverse strains from the Culture Collection of Algae at the University of Vienna (ASW: Algenkultur-Sammlung Wien). These non-axenic, unialgal strains are available through CCAC.