Preservation of Fungal Culture with Special Reference to Mineral Oil Preservation

Abstract

It is very important to preserve fungi so that they can be studied and utilized in future. Fungal resource centres play a key role in conservation of fungi for research pertaining to diversity, taxonomy, epidemiology, biotechnology, biosafety, biosecurity and IPR issues. Preserved cultures of fungal strains are utilized by all stakeholders associated with agriculture, pharmaceutical, brewery and industry for developing new technologies and products for all the sections of the society. Various preservation methods of fungi are given in this chapter with special reference to mineral oil preservation method which is easy, simple and cost-effective as it does not require any sophisticated tool and material. This is the simplest method for preservation of both sporulating-and non-sporulating fungi in any small laboratory and small-scale industry where infrastructure is less.