April 1999 Newsletter of the Mycological Society of America
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w Supplement to Mycologia Vol. 50(2) April 1999 Newsletter of the Mycological Society of America -- In This Issue -- Filamentous Fungi and Yeasts: ATCC ATCC Quality .......................................1 - 2 Momany on Science Writing ..................... 3 Quality Control and Quality Assurance Letters to the Editor ................................3-4 Mycological News ................................5-12 by Guozhong Ma, K. Tom Gu, and Frank Dugan MSA Official Business Change of Address ..................................2 All three authors work for the American Type Culture Collection Gift Membership ....................................4 (ATCC):DK (Ali)Ma as Senior Biologist, DK Gu as the new Collec- 1999 MSA / IBC Meeting Update 12 - 13 tion Scientist for the Yeast Genetic Stock Center; and DK Dugan as 1999 MSA Awards Deadlines ...... 13 - 14 the 'old' Collection Scientist for Mycology and Botany. Endowment & Contributions ................ 24 The world of industrial mycology is rapidly evolving. Both for- Sustaining Members ............................. 26 profit and not-for-profit distributors of biological materials are de- Society Membership ............................. 27 veloping more stringent methods of quality control (QC) and quality Mycologist's Bookshelf ...................... 15-16 assurance (QA). Large culture collections like ATCC have major Samuels on Mayr ..................................... 17 archival responsibilities in addition to routine production of cultures AAASISmithsonian Celebrate Science ... 18 for distribution. Accordingly, such collections do not yet produce Mycology On-Line ............................. 19-20 cultures under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), but the critical Calendar of Events .............................. 20-21 elements of GMP and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) can be in- Mycological Classifieds ..................... 22-23 corporated into standard operating procedures (SOPs) (Jong et al. Positions, Scholarships, Publications, 1998). At ATCC, viability, purity and identity of filamentous fungi Mycological Goods & Services and yeasts are verified and documented under SOPs in a manner both MSA Memoirs .........................................25 scientific and industrial. Important Dates - In March, 1998, ATCC moved from Rockville, Maryland to its new laboratories in Manassas, Virginia. Almost simultaneously, we imple- April 15 - Deadline for next Inoculum mented a company-wide, computer system to track production, in- 50(3) [to be mailed 5/15] ventory, distribution, permit requirements, and financial functions. April 1 - Deadlines: Poster Abstracts, This system, known throughout ATCC as the Enterprise system, en- Distinguished Mycologist, MSA ables input of the principal specifications for each strain (viability, Graduate Fellowships & Prizes purity and identity) including the literature citation for the species April 3 - Deadline: Alexopoulos Award description. Conformity to these criteria, including the species de- April 6 - Deadline: MSA Mentor Travel scription, can be documented for every batch produced, and saved Awards electronically to a batch-specific Certificate of Analysis (CoA). The April 9 - Deadline: Weston Teaching CoA constitutes the record of QC for a given batch, and can be printed Award on request or distributed with the material. These CoAs are avail- April 30 - NEW Deadline: Smith able for most batches produced subsequent to spring 1998. For batches Research Fund of material produced prior to spring of 1998, CoAs are still available only for strains distributing in high numbers. May 1 - Deadline: Martin-Baker Fund August 1-7 - IBC / MSA Annual Meeting Viability of cultures is checked by inoculation of the medium des- Editor -- ignated in the catalog. Purity is checked by examination of the strain at 100-1000X, and by inoculation of a nutrient broth; cloudiness in Lorelei Norvell, PNW Mycology Service the broth is an indication that the culture should be checked for bac- 6720 NW Skyline Blvd terial contamination. Identity of a filamentous fungus is checked by Portland, OR 97229-1309 USA comparison of the colony and microscopic characters of the fungus 503.297.3296 FAX 503.296.6745 with one or more published species descriptions. Identity of yeasts is [email protected] increasingly verified with the aid of semi-automated systems for the MSA Homepage -- analysis of substrate utilization profiles. BiologB and AllevB are http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/-w3msa/ Quality Control at ATCC, concluded. two such systems. Both are now em- about viability of test tube cultures are pleting a PhD, and one person with a BS. ployed by the Mycology Collection. often valid. Unfortunately, test tube cul- In addition, two full time temporary bi- Further details of QC as applied to tures are at the mercy of temperatures ologists with BS degrees and one stu- accessioning of fungi and yeasts have in transit, and every year ATCC replaces dent intern work in the laboratory. Two been provided (Dugan and Ma 1997). cultures that perish due to conditions summer interns, one of whom is a doc- beyond our control. About 15% of com- toral student, plus one postdoc, are QA essentially consists of standardized plaints concern contamination by bac- scheduled to work in the laboratory be- procedures for the auditing of QC docu- teria or fungi; approximately a third of ginning later in 1999. All permanent mentation. In ATCC Mycology, there is these, or one twentieth of one percent employees in the ATCC Mycology lab a monthly audit of laboratory notebooks of total cultures distributed, are con- have formal, academic coursework in and other paper documents, Enterprise firmed in our lab. Equal numbers of mycology plus rigorous, internal train- files and other electronic records, and valid complaints (approximately 0.05% ing centered on identification and clas- critical calibration documents. The au- of distributed cultures) concern the sification of fungi. dit procedures, like the QC practices names applied to strains; re-assignment themselves, are conducted in accordance of a strain to a different name is some- In December, 1998, the Yeast with written SOPS. Just as the QC ac- times necessary. Most re-assignments Genetic Stock Center (YGSC) moved tivities and results are documented in stem from improvements in technology from U.C. Berkeley, to ATCC, Manassas. various paper and electronic records, the (molecular methods, or refined substrate QC of the YGSC strains had been a QA audit and results are documented and utilization tests) or from other new ex- strong commitment of the Berkeley archived. Deficiencies in QC require perimental results. We appreciate new YGSC staff, and ATCC has pledged to specified correctives. QA documenta- information pertinent to our strains, and continue that commitment. Presence of tion is initialed and dated by all labora- obligingly change names when experi- the mutations specified in the YGSC tory persons participating in the audit. mental results justify re-assignment. catalog was checked by replica plating, Genuine cases of simple cross-stamping and other methods of Direct oversight of the audit is assigned classical yeast genetics. These methods to staff who are neither employees nor misidentification do occur, however. We realize that the low percentage of will continue to be utilized by ATCC to supervisors of persons whose documen- provide the best service possible to the tation is the subject of the audit. confirmed complaints is no consolation to the persons whose complaints are community of yeast geneticists, medi- At ATCC Mycology, we are valid! Hence, we appreciate cornrnu- cal researchers and other customers. A strongly aware of the importance of our nications with regard to the quality of full time Collection Scientist with tech- cultures to the research, development or ATCC strains, and we make every ef- nical support has been allocated for the production needs of our customers. QC fort to improve that quality. YGSC in its new home. and QA are utterly central to our Literature cited: accessioning and distribution activities. Effective QCIQA is contingent Historically, the number of complaints on availability of trained, dedicated Dugan, FM and G Ma. 1997. has been very low relative to the num- staff. In ATCC Mycology, adrninistra- Accessioning of fungi and yeasts at ber of cultures distributed, approxi- tive and technical support is furnished ATCC. Inoculum 48(1): 1-2. mately one percent. Of this one percent, by three, PhD-level Collection Scien- the majority of complaints (approxi- tists. Laboratory biologists work un- Jong, SC, FM Dugan, JM Birmingham, mately 80%) center on lack of viability. der the direct supervision of another RH Cypess. 1998. Internal quality Although nearly all complaints about PhD, the Senior Biologist. This assurance audits for microbiology viability of lyophilized cultures can be workforce of biologists includes one laboratories in culture collections. attributed to insufficient re-hydration person with an MS, two persons com- SIM News 48:66-69. time in the customer's lab, complaints pleting MS degrees, one person com- Change of Address Send all corrections of directory information, including e-mail addresses, directly to Allen Press Mycological Society of America VOX 800.627.0629 (US and Canada) Attn: Edith Gray-Negahban, Association Manager or 785.843.1221 PO Box 1897 [810 E 10th St] FAX 785.843.1274 Lawrence, KS 66044-8897 Ernail [email protected] Note: A copy of the directory is on the MSA Home Page (see Page