CBS-KNAW fungal biodiversity centre
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Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures

Utrecht, The Netherlands

Ordering of cultures

Fungi, yeasts, bacteria, plasmids and phages

Directly ordering Fungi click here and Yeasts click here (not possible for bacteria, plasmids and phages)
When directly ordering is not possible than orders are also accepted by E-mail, fax and email, preferably accompanied by an official order number. In urgent cases orders can be announced by telephone, but written confirmation remains necessary.
 

CBS will distribute material under the terms and conditions as specified in the MTA. By ordering from CBS you agree with these terms and conditions. Some strains are only distributed with a specific MTA (certain bacterial strains and yeasts). In case your order these you will be notified by our sales department.

Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures
Sales department
Uppsalalaan 8
P.O. Box 85167
3584 CT Utrecht 3584 CT Utrecht
The Netherlands

Tel: national: 030 2122600 – international: +31 30 2122600
Fax: national: 030 2512097 – international: +31 30 2512097 E-mail

Please address correspondence and cultures to either Culture Collection or Identification Service, as appropriate.

Clients may be sent a proforma invoice requesting payment in advance.
Unless a particular strain is required, clients are advised to state the purpose for which the cultures are to be used (e.g. taxonomic studies, physiological work, education) or whether sporulation is imperative, in order to permit the selection of the most suitable strain. For educational purposes it is often sufficient to order by the generic name only, or to allow the collection to select the best strain of a species.
The customer must agree not to claim ownership over organisms provided from CBS, nor to seek intellectual property rights over them or related information. If they wish to utilise or exploit such organisms commercially, suitable and equitable sharing of benefits with the country of origin, in the spirit of the Convention of Biological Diversity, is required. The fee paid by customers for the supply of the culture is not a charge for the culture itself, but a contribution to the costs of handling and maintenance.

Unless a particular strain is required, customers are requested to state the purpose for which the cultures are to be used (e.g. taxonomic studies, physiological work) or whether sporulation is imperative, in order to permit the mycologists in charge of the collection to select a suitable strain. This is particularly important as some properties of strains may have been lost during prolonged cultivation.

Invoicing

Invoices will normally be despatched with the strains or with the advise of despatch, unless otherwise instructed or where proforma invoices have been paid in advance. Where a delay is likely in invoice production the culture will be sent with a note to indicate that the invoice will follow

Concerns, comments and complaints

CBS will endeavour to address all customer queries within 5 working days, by post, fax, telephone or e-mail if appropriate and practicable. Complaints about identity, contamination or non viability of cultures can be accepted only if they reach CBS within two months after the date of despatch, and if instructions for revival, cultivation and storage have been followed properly. Please allow sufficient time for freeze-dried spores to germinate, to compensate for a possible delay.
All enquiries/complaints/anomalies are recorded under an enquiry reference number, recording the date of enquiry, the enquirers contact details and the action taken or the information provided.

Refunds

All strains are checked for viability, purity and identity after preservation. Despite rigorous quality control and standard procedures being followed it may be possible that the strain may fail to grow, may be contaminated or may not have the property stipulated in the order or that is reasonably expected of the organism on receipt. When the instructions have been properly followed, it is normal policy to replace the strain with a growing culture on agar where possible. If not possible a refund will be given in the form of a credit note. Cultures from cryopreservation or other methods of storage are grown on agar and viability, purity and identity are checked before despatch, again if refunds are considered appropriate they will be given in the form of a credit note.

Remarks on the quality

CBS cannot guarantee that specific strains will show all original cultural, morphological or physiological characters, as e.g. virulence or production of certain metabolites, although experience has taught that these characters may be retained over long periods of cultivation.

Charges and Payment

PaymenPayment should refer to pro forma number or invoice number and be made to the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures Utrecht through ABN AMRO Bank, PO Box 90, 1000 AB Amsterdam
(account no. 55.27.27.369; International Bank Account number IBAN NL78 ABNA 0552 7273 69; BIC/Swiftcode ABNANL2A) by cheque or direct transfer.
For payment by credit card (only VISA and MasterCard) see instructions on the invoice

The following forms can be downloaded as PDF files:

DISCLAIMER

Customers receiving CBS strains are responsible for their safe storage, handling and use. Neither the CBS nor the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences can consider claims or accept responsibility for damages or injuries resulting from use, storage or loss of a CBS culture. Although the identity of the strains has been checked according to present standards, CBS is not liable for damages arising from misidentification or misrepresentation of strains.