The living collection of microalgae (ALCP), or Historical Collection, was created in the end of the 1920s by Mr Lefèvre and Pr. P. Allorge. It is the largest collection of freshwater algae in France and it is presently composed of 850 algal strains representing seven algal divisions. These are maintained in living cultures and their genomes have been sequenced.

This collection constitutes a reference library for taxonomical studies but also for experimentation in ecotoxicology. Some of the strains in the collectin are ISO references.

Cyanobacteria and microalgae present in these two collections come from all over the world. They originates either from missions in the field or from other collections. The PMC collection possesses a unique group of living cyanobacteria from sub-Saharan Africa and Mayotte.

The large geographical distribution of strains from a given genus or species, allows the characterization of the genetic diversity within these taxons. On the other hand, cultures of the same species originating from the same sampling area but exhibiting different toxinic profiles, make it possible to evaluate the selective value of various toxin production strategies.

http://www.mnhn.fr/fr/collections/ensembles-collections/ressources-biologiques-cellules-vivantes-cryoconservees/microalgues-cyanobacteries