ORDER INFORMATION

Before placing an order for culture germplasm, it is important to review the policies established for the collection. These policies are meant to serve as guidelines, and they often are modified to best meet the needs of those requesting material without compromising benefits to the collection. Any such deviations from the "default" policies need to be worked out by email prior to shipping material.

Steps in organizing and placing an order:

1. Search the INVAM culture database to find the accession cultures in which you are interested. For details (when available) on source information, search the accession database. The immediate availability of a culture is determined by the amount in storage, and this must be > 400 cm³. If less, and the culture is absolutely essential, then we will make an immediate effort to restart the culture (with a wait time of 100 days for good infectivity).
   
   
2. Put together the list of culture accessions and send an email to the INVAM curator at: jbmorton@mail.wvu.edu (there is no link here, with the intent of reducing detection by spammers). In addition to the list, as much other important information should be included that will expedite order preparation, namely:
   
   

   — type of inoculum (standard whole inoculum which consists of pot contents chopped and mixed OR cleaned spores) — amount of inoculum if it deviates from the standard 175-200 cm3 OR quantity of spores — how soon the material is required — if relevant, experiment host plant, soil pH, greenhouse/growth room temperature range, any light limitations — complete mailing address — any request for a different mail carrier or expedited mailing (e.g., FedEx overnight) — expected method of payment

   
   
3. A reply email should be received within 48 hrs. If this does not occur, then kindly send a duplicate of the first email. With over 50 spam messages per day and rising (a pox on them all!!), your email message either may have been inadvertently deleted or erroneously routed to a spam folder (which I'm learning to check more regularly for such errors). Either case is rare, but it has happened and, "out of sight, out of mind".
   
   
4. We check each requested culture stored longer than 60 days at the time of request because of the possibility of unpredictable storage effects, especially Gigaspora species, dark-spored Scutellospora/Glomus species, and several other "problem" species. If there is any question of the quality of the culture, we will notify you be email and recommend a substitute isolate of the species. If our records indicate potential problems with aggressiveness, sensitivity to environmental conditions, etc. with any requested isolates, we will begin a dialog by email to affirm the choice or work to select an alternative isolate.
   
   
5. At the time of mailing, you will receive an email of the tracking number, from which you can track the shipping route on the Federal Express website.
   
   
6. As a courtesy, we would like to receive a return email to notify us that the package has been received safely and in acceptable condition. Also notify us if there are any problems with the culture material, so that we can help in a resolution. We certainly are not above making occasional errors in evaluation of inocula at the time of mailing.
   
   
7. Make payment, including one of the printed invoices included in the mailed package. All but one of the orders with delinquent payment are outside the U.S., and this has become pervasive enough that we now require prepayment for international orders. We cannot afford the loss of return on our culture investment and the substantial mail cost. We can only accept checks, money orders, or bank wire transfers.