Crowdsourcing to Create National Repositories of Microbial Genetic Resources: Fungi as a Model

To address the challenging task of identifying, obtaining and cataloging the different microbes in a country with wide-ranging environments and habitats, we present a crowdsourcing model. With fungi as the prototype, we discuss approaches for rapid collection and identification of strains from environments and habitats that might lead to novel genes of industrial importance. Also, we expect the use of easy culture preservation methods to promote colleges as mini culture-collection centres and serve as the initial focal point in a national research initiative. Our model envisions the concerted involvement of undergraduate students, faculty, industries, national laboratories and culture- collection repositories to rapidly build a large assemblage of rare fungal strains and enhance the biodiversity resource of a country.