title: The Montpellier Leishmania Collection, from a Laboratory Collection to a Biological Resource Center: A 39-Year-Long Story.
abstract: We report the development of a laboratory collection of Leishmania that was initiated in 1975 and, after 39 years, has become an international Biological Resource Center (BRC-Leish, Montpellier, France, BioBank No. BB-0033-00052), which includes 6353 strains belonging to 36 Leishmania taxa. This is a retrospective analysis of the technical and organizational changes that have been adopted over time to take into account the technological advances and related modifications in the collection management and quality system. The technical improvements concerned the culture and cryopreservation techniques, strain identification by isoenzymatic and molecular techniques, data computerization and quality management to meet the changes in international standards, and in the cryogenic and microbiological safety procedures. The BRC is working toward obtaining the NF-S 96-900 certification in the coming years. Our long-term expertise in Leishmania storage and typing and collection maintenance should encourage field epidemiologists and clinical practitioners in endemic countries to secure their own strain collection with the help of the French BRC-Leish.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Francine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pratlong
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Balard
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lami
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Loïc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Talignani
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ravel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dereure
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Ghislaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Serres
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bastien
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitology-Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montpellier-National Reference Centre for Leishmaniases-Unit MIVEGEC (CNRS 5290/IRD 224/University of Montpellier)-Academic Hospital Center (C.H.U.) of Montpellier , Montpellier, France .
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dedet
mesh_terms: D018070:Biological Specimen Banks / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D015925:Cryopreservation; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends
keywords: Biological Resource Center; Leishmania collection; resources