CHRU de Montpellier
39, av. Charles Flahault
34295 MONTPELLIER cedex 5
France
+33 (0)4 67 33 23 50 (Tel)
+33 (0)4 67 33 23 58 (Fax)
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MiVEGEC unit research
UMR 5290 CNRS / 224 IRD / UM
Since 1971, the Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology of the Academic Hospital and Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier (formerly Laboratory of Medical Ecology and Parasite Pathology) has constituted a collection of strains of the protozoan parasiteLeishmania(flagellates, Kinetoplastids, Trypanosomatidae), thanks to the intensive works of Prof. Jean-Antoine Rioux and later, Prof. Jean-Pierre Dedet.
Thiscollection is unique in the worldby its importance, as it containsmore than 6,000 strainsofLeishmaniafrom 67 countries on five continents, and more importantly from a wide diversity of hosts (human, animal reservoirs and Phlebotomine vectors) and eco-epidemiological situations.
The expertise accumulated in various aspects of this disease and its pathogen, as well ,as this collection, allowed the Laboratory to be recognized asNational Reference Center for Leishmaniases(CNRL) in 1998.
The collection consists mainly in strains ofLeishmaniaisolated in culture and stored in liquid nitrogen. The strains are systematically typed before storage and on thawing for any cession.
The BRC-Leishmaniacomprises:
– One Level 2 and one Level 3 biological safety laboratories (in vitro cultivation units),
– One cryopreservation unit.
Identification/typing ofLeishmaniastrains can be performed, using two outsourced services:
– Molecular identification is performed in the Dept. of Parasitology-Mycology of the Academic Hospital of Montpellier, by MLST (Multi Locus Sequence Typing).
– A phenotypic typing is also performed by MALDI-TOF at the CNRL
A biochemical identification using the classical reference method of isoenzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) is still possible at the CNRL, but only for specific scientific purposes.
Quality Management
The BRC-Leishmaniais part of the wider BRC of the Academic Hospital of Montpellier. As such, it has been engaged for several years in a Quality management system aiming at the certification according to ISO 9001 and NF S96-900 standards.
The BRC-Leishmaniais a member of the network of French microbiological BRC (FBRCMi) andInserm Biobanquesnetwork.
The collection has been recorded since 2005 in the database of the World Data Centre forMicroorganisms of the World Federationfor Culture Collection under No. WDCM 879.