Culture Collection of Yeasts (acronym CCY) The collection has a general character About 3.600 strains, among them yeasts of medical (pathogenic yeasts) and industrial importance (brewing and wine yeasts) and isolates from various natural sources (water, soil, and plant material), mainly endemic, are maintained there.

History of the Culture Collection of Yeasts (former Czechoslovak Collection of Yeasts) It was founded by Dr. Anna Kocková-Kratochvílová at the Research Institute of Brewing and Malting in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1946. In 1953 it was moved to Bratislava to the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry of STU. Since 1962 the collection has been located in the Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences. In 1992, when Slovakia and the Czech Republic separated, the name of the CCY was changed to the Culture Collection of Yeasts.

Membership Since 1972 the CCY collection has been listed in „The World Directory of Collections of Cultures of Microorganisms“. In 1982 the Culture Collection of Yeasts became a member of European Culture Collections’ Organization. In 1992 the collection acquired the status of „International Depository Authority“ established under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit Microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure.

Maintenance of yeasts Classical preservation: on culture media in a refrigerator at 4 C, or under paraffin oil. Long-term storage in liquid nitrogen: at – 196 °C (the combination of penetrating and non-penetra- ting agents has been used)

CCY provides with services as follows Supplying of yeast cultures Isolation of yeasts from various sources Identification of yeast cultures Deposits: Deposit in the open collection Safe deposit Deposit for patent purposes Other services (on demand)

Research activities In general: Ecological studies on the yeasts inhabiting various natural sources (lakes, rivers, forest, grassy and agricultural soils Recent study: Yeasts associated with phylloplane of fruit trees (leaves, blossoms, fruits) Present study: The diversity and properties of yeasts inhabiting the soil beneath fruit trees (2014-2017)