About this Journal

JOURNAL OF CULTURE COLLECTIONS publishes research papers with original results in the field of collection and preservation of microbial and cell cultures and viruses. Different aspects of these topics will be interesting: taxonomic, biochemical and molecular biological investigations. Manuscripts of Bulgarian and foreign collections including subcollections of different scientific institutions are preferred.

The publisher of the Journal of Culture Collections is the National Bank for Industrial Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (NBIMCC), Sofia.

Founded in 1983 by the Government of Republic of Bulgaria, NBIMCC is juristically independent research institute, financed by the state budget. NBIMCC is a member of the World Federation of Culture Collections and European Culture Collections Organisation, recognised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation as Independent Depository Institute, authorised to accept and safe-keep microbial specimens for the purposes of patent procedures. Objects of collecting are bacteria and actinomycetes, fungi, plasmid-bearing microorganisms, animal viruses and cell lines, plant viruses. By the end of 2002 the specimens preserved were more than 7500 strains.

Collecting activity is a specific and narrow scientific area. Hundreds of collections worldwide deal with similar scientific problems and publish in different journals. This fact makes difficulties in gathering data about the collection, the conservation and the preservation of microbiological objects. The accumulated statistic information connected with different criteria, which were followed during the long-term conservation of the specimens, is of great importance for this kind of investigations. These data are useful for the specialised research groups, but of limited interest for publication in series of scientific journals. It is possible that optimal decisions regarding a certain problem have been already found and meanwhile other collections to continue working on them. In our opinion a possible alternative is to combine scientific information of similar kind in a journal of culture collections, which will include research, research-applied materials, as well as papers of practical importance. Their value could be evaluated namely by the narrow specialists in collecting and preserving.

The NBIMCC researchers have decided that it is worth to try to publish such a journal. Several papers of the NBIMCC staff have been published in the first issues. We hope that the specific thematic attracts authors working in other collections. It would give us a great pleasure if the readers give their comments and send to us research papers for publication in next issues.

All manuscripts submitted for publication are reviewed by a suitable member of the Editorial Board or by other referees. The materials may be send back to the author for modification if necessary. After publication each author receives an offprint.

All manuscripts should be submitted to the following address:

Dr. Angela Yordanova, Editor

Journal of Culture Collections

P.O. Box 239

1113 Sofia

Bulgaria

e-mailnbimcc@cablebg.net or nbimcc@hotmail.com

JOURNAL OF CULTURE COLLECTIONS will be published periodically depending on the number of the submitted materials. Because of the restricted journal circulation and its dissemination free of charge, offprints may be ordered on the same address.