Long-term maintenance of fungal cultures on perlite in cryovials - an alternative for agar slants.

Cultures of 33 basidiomycete strains out of 35 tested were viable with unchanged characteristics after four years of maintenance on perlite in cryovials. These cultures can be a good substitute for agar cultures in long-term maintenance of fungi. For comparison, the storage under oil was evaluated but it turned out to be unsuitable for the majority of our cultures.