The Israel National Culture Collection of Algae (INCCA) for biodiversity conservation

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to introduce the Israel National Culture Collection of Algae (INCCA) http://kinneret. ocean. org. il/INCCA. aspx. INCCA was set up at the Kinneret Limnological Laboratory, Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research, to document, isolate and preserve the microalgae biodiversity of Israel, for future scientific, industrial and educational purposes. At present the collection contains 103 strains, mainly from the Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyta and Charophyta divisions. Each isolated culture was first identified by microscopy and later submitted to DNA barcoding using rbcL and the rRNA SSU-ITS as markers. The unialgal (xenic) cultures are maintained on agar plates or in liquid media, at constant illumination and temperature. We present our isolation, purification and characterization procedures, together with a listing of our current holdings. The distinctiveness of INCCA among other culture collections is that it is the first collection of microalgae in Israel and its adjacent Middle Eastern countries. Furthermore, since most isolates are from Lake Kinneret they are accompanied by environmental data derived from >50 years of monitoring on Lake Kinneret. Examples of the research conducted on several of our strains supports the scientific importance of this collection. By transforming INCCA into a formal internationally accredited collection, that will expand to include species of microalgae from all types of environments in Israel, we would like to provide a home for preserving microalgal biodiversity in this Middle-East country.