A Living Treasure of Protist Diversity
Monday 5 July
The Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (CCAP)
Most of the algae and protozoa cultures that the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa (CCAP) are preparing and sending to the Sanger Institute for the Darwin Tree of Life project were collected many years ago and have been kept in continuous culture ever since. While CCAP staff love to collect and isolate new strains when we can, maintaining the 3000-plus strains kept in the public collection takes up most of our time!
CCAP is a Biological Resource Centre located within the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) near Oban on the scenic west coast of Scotland, with foundations stretching back to the cultures isolated by Professor Ernst Georg Pringsheim and added to his small collection in Prague in the 1920s (our oldest strain is a Chlorella vulgaris isolated in 1892!). Supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UKRI, CCAP holds a growing collection of microalgae, cyanobacteria, protozoa, small seaweeds and algal pathogens, which are supplied to scientists, educators and businesses worldwide.
By the CCAP team
23rd June 2021