The international acronym PREM denotes the South African National
Collection of Fungi, which houses approximately 60 000 specimens. The
collection includes material from outside South Africa and contains
representatives of all the major groups of fungi excluding the yeasts and
pathogens of larger animals and man. The name PREM was derived from the city
in which the collection is situated, Pretoria (PRE), and the M defines the
collection as being mycological. The background information and historical
facts presented in this paper are based on an unpublished manuscript, prepared
by the co-author and then head of the collection A.P. Baxter, for the
90th celebration of PREM.The collection was established in 1905, when South Africa was still a
British colony. The vision and hard work of the earlier scientists associated
with it paved the way for the establishment of a number of present-day
national research bodies. One of these, the Plant Protection Research
Institute, is currently the custodian of the collection. Over time activities
at PREM were influenced by socio-economic and political events, and most
recently, the South African government's commitment to international
biodiversity initiatives. Although the basic goals and needs to maintain PREM
remained intact throughout, various phases in terms of research focus can be
recognised over the past century. In the early days the emphasis was on
collecting and recording of fungi, then pioneering research was done on
mycotoxins and later there was an increased demand for public-good services
and innovation. Since the 1980's sophisticated molecular techniques have aided
in the discovery of true phylogenetic relationships of fungi, a fundamental
field of systematics, that was previously impossible to explore by any other
means. Against these advances, the value of reference collections is often
questioned.New technologies should, however, not be pursued in isolation from other
relevant factors. Improvement of agricultural practices, knowledge sharing and
the protection and conservation of biota will always be important. Even so,
the success and future of natural history collections depends on continued
support from governing bodies, appreciation for our biological heritage and on
inputs from the scientific community.
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