International University Faculty of Science and Technology is one of the leading Higher Education Institutions in Cambodia in providing microbiology courses training. The Faculty of Science and Technology aims to provide a degree program in Microbiology which will be the first institution which can confer degree certificate in Microbiology in Cambodia. We have established a Food Microbiology Lab which is part of Food Chemistry curriculum program. We are now working on microbial aspects in food safety where microbial contamination is investigated from a farm to the table.

Since the isolation of the first strain in 2009, the microbial collection in CCB has grown. An initiative to characterise and catalogue the collection started in 2013, leading to the establishment of the CCB-Microbial Biodiversity Library (CCB-MBL). In February 2018, the catalogue was made available online on our website. Our collections are also indexed and made searchable by the Global Catalogue of Microorganisms (http://gcm.wfcc.info/). Isolates are obtained from various sources, with emphasis on aquatic and coastal ecosystems. These isolates are usually part of research projects on secondary metabolites, genomics, and chemical biology. The core aims of CCB-MBL are: - To house microorganisms from diverse Malaysia niches, especially from mangrove and marine environments. - To study isolates with potential application in chemical biology. - To share the collection with researchers, educators, and relevant industries.

Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) was established in 1985. Formerly known as Forest Research Institute (FRI) which was founded in 1929, FRIM is one of the leading institutions in tropical forestry research in the world. The institute is placed under the purview of the Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS). Awarded the MS ISO 9001 certification since 2007, and gazetted as a Natural Heritage Site on 10 February 2009 under the National Heritage Act 2005, FRIM campus was declared as a National Heritage on 10 May 2012. The FRIM Microbial Culture Collection (FRIM-MCC) is a unique bioresource collection facility established in 2009 by the Natural Products Division of FRIM. The facility holds a collection of cryopreserved culture stocks of more than 10,000 isolates of actinobacteria and bacteria (risk groups 1 and 2). The cultures were originally isolated using proprietary methods from natural resources such as forest soil, mangrove sediments and plant samples collected from various locations throughout Peninsular Malaysia. The FRIM-MCC collection is registered with the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM No. 1129) in July 2016. It is also registered as a participant of WDCM’s Global Catalogue of Microorganisms (GCM) which provides the platform to assist FRIM-MCC to publish its online catalogue of microorganisms (http://www.wfcc.info/ccinfo/collection/by_id/1129).

MARDI Microbial Culture Collection (MMCC) was officially formed in 2016 and was located at MARDI Headquarters in Serdang. The functions of MMCC are to preserve and to maintain copies of microorganism strain available in MARDI and other institutions in Malaysia. Our collection center maintained cultures in our collection and keep the data of the culture such as strain source, characterization, benefit etc. Our vision is to be the trusted provider of microbes not just in Malaysia but other part of the world.

The Algae Research Laboratory (ARL), University of Malaya is the foremost Algal Research Centre in the Malaysia, with an excellent track record in research and training. The Algae Research Laboratory was establish by Professor Dr Phang Siew Moi at the University of Malaya as national initiative in phycological research. As an effort to understand the biodiversity of Malaysian microalgae, the University of Malaya Algae Culture Collection (UMACC) was initiated in 1987 with freshwater species and species from polluted environments. The University of Malaya Algae Culture Collection (UMACC) is the only culture collection of microalgae in Malaysia, serve as a national collection of microalgae and supplies selected cultures to researchers and the industry. The ARL is the first laboratory in Malaysia and the region, which provides accreditated (MS ISO/IEC 17025/2005) Taxonomic Identification of Microalgae (SAMM837). The University of Malaya Algae Culture Collection (UMACC) is recognized as a member of the Asia-Oceania Algae Culture Collection (AOAC) Network. It consists of unialgal cultures, of which many are axenic. The early isolates were mainly of freshwater Chlorella and Scenedesmus strain strains from various ponds and lakes used in the treatment of wastewater from rubber possessing. As the research interests of the Algae Research Laboratory (ARL) expanded, marine microalgae, marine diatoms, cyanobacteria and thraustochytrids were added into the collection. Many of the culture are indigenous strains, which they were isolated from the diverse habitats of Malaysia, ranging from freshwater lakes, wastewater pond, river, estuaries, mangrove swamps, and coastal waters to extreme environment likes hot spring. There are also several strains of aerial microalgae isolated from wall scrapings (eg. Chlorococcum). In 1999, the University of Malaya Algae Culture Collection (UMACC): Catalogue of Strains was published in an effort to provide a comprehensive listing of the cultures together with other useful information on techniques on isolation, purification and culture maintenance due to high demand from other researchers and students. In 2001, the first Malaysian collection of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Microalgae has been also established at the University of Malaya Algae Culture Collection (UMACC). To date the University of Malaya Algae Culture Collection (UMACC) houses more than 250 isolates of tropical microalgae and more 30 isolates of Antarctic, Sub-Antarctic and Artic microalgae. In addition, there are also some culture from other culture collections such as Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa, United Kingdom (CCAP), Culture Collection of Microalgae, CSIRO Marine Laboratories, Hobart, Australia were deposited in the UMACC and all outside sources are acknowledged in the list of culture. Many of the UMACC cultures have been used in the various studies conducted at the Algae Research Laboratory (ARL), University of Malaya.

The Philippine National Collection of Microorganisms (PNCM) is the national repository of microbial strains in the Philippines. It traces its origins to the Microbial Culture Collection (MCC) of the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (BIOTECH) at the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna Province. The BIOTECH-MCC was established as an in-house culture collection with the primary function of preserving microbial strains that the various projects of the institute have isolated and acquired. Through the years, it has evolved into a service laboratory in response to requests for microbial cultures and microbiological services particularly from the academe, local communities and industry. Thus, BIOTECH-MCC expanded into a service laboratory and became the BIOTECH Microbial Culture Collection and Service Laboratory (MCCSL). In 1995, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD), provided a three-year grant for the upgrading of the BIOTECH-MCCSL into a national repository of microorganisms. The proposal to upgrade the laboratory into a national repository included surveying existing culture collections in the country and organizing these collections into a Philippine Network of Microbial Culture Collections (PNMCC). At present, there are seven members of the network, namely BIOTECH-PNCM, the UP Natural Sciences Research Institute Culture Collections, the Microbial Culture Collection of the Museum of Natural History UPLB, the Industrial Technology Development Institute Microbial Culture Collection, the University of Santo Tomas Collection of Microbial Strains, the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau Endomycorrhizal Germplasm Collection and the UNILAB Clinical Culture Collection. The BIOTECH-MCCSL has been renamed the PNCM to reflect its present national repository status. The PNCM is the biggest general culture collection in the country. It maintains a total of over 4000 strains of bacteria, yeast, molds and algae that use either of the two preservation methods: overlay with sterile mineral oil, ultra-low temperature storage with glycerol, liquid drying (L-drying), storage in sterile soil or water.

The University of Santo Tomas Collection of Microbial Strains (USTCMS) offers a unique collection of indigenous, clinical and biotechnological microbial strains. It maintains locally isolated marine luminous bacteria, clinical bacterial isolates, filamentous fungi and yeasts of terrestrial and marine origin, microalgae and Streptomyces. Formally established in 2003 with the launching of its first edition catalogue, it is presently located at the 3rd floor of the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, Thomas Aquinas Research Complex, University of Santo Tomas in Manila. In 2004, the UST CMS joined the Philippine Network of Microbial Culture Collections (PNMCC). The USTCMS also offers other microbiological services such as food and water analysis and antimicrobial assays to students, researchers, and academicians. It provides training courses and seminar-workshops to local community engaged in the utilization of microorganisms and microbiological processes. It likewise offers consultation services in the field of microbiology to the UST collegiate and medical communities as well as interested parties from the Philippine private and public education sectors. At present, USTCMS is a proud member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC) and Asian Consortium for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Microbial Resources (ACM).

The UPLB-BIOTECH Actinobacteria Culture Collection (UBACC) (300+) was initially established as a collection of the Antibiotic Production Laboratory in 1995. We focused on Actinobacteria since our research interest is on antimicrobials and biocontrol agents. Actinobacteria are known to produce bioactive compounds with antimicrobial properties against medically important pathogens and biocontrol potential against major plant pathogens. Our isolates came from soil samples from environments like mangroves, caves, mining sites and agricultural lands. We regularly do sampling of soil and do isolation of actinobacteria from these sites. Actinobacteria are very interesting to study but we have limited budget to identify all of them hence some of our collection are not yet identified. Most of our collection are characterized in terms of their antimicrobial property against MRSA, S. aureus, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Enterobacter aerogenes, and biocontrol potential against Fusarium oxysporum and Ralstonia solanacearum. Our actinobacteria collection are preserved in sterile soil, YMA slants in sterile mineral oil and some are lyophilized. The need of our collection is to be organized and be identified for proper documentation. I believe this intensive workshop will help my Laboratory properly establish our Actinobacteria collection for our use and for our future collaborators among our neighboring countries.

Microorganisms such as fungi, actinomycetes, bacteria, and yeasts are considered as a precious biological resource. The northern region of Thailand has a variety of microorganisms which can be used for foods, medicines, and agricultural applications. Therefore, it is necessary to collect and maintain the effective microorganisms including the type stains as a database. Center of Excellence in Microbial Diversity and Sustainable Utilization, formerly Sustainable Development of Biological Resources Laboratory (SDBR), operates under the jurisdiction of the Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. SDBR aims to collect and maintain microorganisms for in-house research to find valuable products such as bioactive compounds, enzymes, and antioxidants. Moreover, the SDBR also provides services as well as training, identification, and deposit to public, including a distribution service via TBRC online catalog. Currently, approximately 75 percent of SDBR collections are filamentous fungi, which are taxonomically diverse. The largest group is those isolated from plants (endophytic and pathogenic fungi).

Mae Fah Luang University Culture Collection (MFLUCC) was established in 2010, in order to provide a repository for cultures not only in Thailand, but also from other countries such as China, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. MFLUCC holds more than 7, 000 cultures and among them more than 2000 are type cultures. MFLUCC is the second largest culture collection in Thailand.

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University

Established on February 20th, 2015, Thailand Bioresource Research Center (TBRC) operates under the jurisdiction of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). TBRC serves as a non-profit center to preserve, provide and facilitate the coordination of exchange of biological information and resources and develop mechanisms enabled by information technologies to broaden access to biomaterials to the public and scientific community. TBRC also provide quality technical services and supports that meet international standard practices. TBRC has established strong network with more than 60 departments from leading universities and companies in Thailand and with more than 10 research institutes in ASEAN as well as with leading national and international networks. Therefore, membership of the TBRC network links you to a network of research groups, research institutions, scientists and industry on the utilization of bioresources around the world. Utilizing a common network serving the entire country and ASEAN region, TBRC network helps lower the bioresource centers’ cost of investments in online distribution services. The TBRC Network represents the commitment to generate economic value and enhance the competitiveness to ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) from its rich biological resources. In addition, collections of biological resources in the network are significant to sustain the biodiversity of ASEAN ecosystems in the face of the threats from climate change and natural disaster.

HCMUS has been serving as a pioneer in offering various scientific degrees across Southern Vietnam since its original establishment as the Indochina College of Science in 1941. In 1977, thanks to the country reunification, the Faculty of Science was merged with the Faculty of Letters to establish the Ho Chi Minh City University. Due to some internal reforms, at the beginning of 1996, the Faculty of Science became the University of Natural Sciences - one of the five affiliated universities of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City. In 2007, the University was officially renamed as the University of Science. Since 2007 to present, HCMUS is one of the public universities which plays a particularly important role in offering education and scientific research within VNUHCM system.

Vietnam Type Culture Collection (VTCC) was established in 1996 at the Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology (IMBT), Vietnam National University, Hanoi. VTCC is currently holding 9697 microbial cultures including bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi and yeasts. Since establishment, VTCC has been conducting activities in both culture collection management and R&D to match the current demand for biotechnology development. The missions of VTCC include: - Basic research and applied research in the field of microbiology and technology. - Production and testing of applied products from microorganisms and biotechnology - Consulting, training, technology transfering and implementation of services of science and technology in the field of microbiology and biotechnology

Department of Biotechnology was established in 1998 under Yangon Technological University and moved to Mandalay Technological University in 2006. It consists of the following areas.
(a) Animal Biotechnology
(b) Aquaculture Biotechnology
(c) Plant and Agricultural Biotechnology
(d) Food Biotechnology
(e) Industrial Biotechnology
(f) Medical Biotechnology
(g) Environmental Biotechnology
(h) Molecular Biotechnology
(i) Bioinformatics.
DBT has been offering B.S (Biotechnology), M.S (Biotechnology) and Ph.D (Biotechnology). Mandalay Technological University joined to Anmicro meetings, workshops and trainings as a member university. Under MTU, DBT established the culture collection unit (C.C.U) and organized culture collection team (C.C.T) in 2015. C.C.T is making the collection of the microbial strains isolated by researchers and postgraduate students. Currently it is trying to share the knowledge on microbial database and make collaboration with national and international organizations in research area.

Biotechnology Research Department has been opened separately from Yangon Technological University on 6th November 2015 at Tasoe quarter in Kyaukse district of Mandalay region, Myanmar. Starting from 2016, the Ministry of Science and Technology was combined with Ministry of Education. Now, BRD is one of the departments of department of research and innovation (DRI) under Ministry of Education. Our visions are to create a large pool of highly skilled personnel in different areas of biotechnology and to develop biotechnological processes, designs, techniques, equipment and solutions which can provide applications in the field of agriculture, food, medicines/ pharmaceutical, industry, health care services and environmental sciences.
The mission of our department is to launch several important programs relevant to national needs and efforts with significant investment using biotechnological tools for generation of products, processes and technologies to enhance the efficiency and productivity of our country. .
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There are twelve laboratories in ten research divisions in BRD. They are • Microbiology lab .
• Mycology lab .
• Pharmaceutical research lab .
• Plant tissue culture lab .
• Environmental lab .
• Cell culture lab .
• Food research lab .
• Molecular genetics lab .
• Entomology lab and Fruit fly lab .
• Qualities analysis lab .
• Culture collection unit .
• Wet lab and Aquaculture .