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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #304674
Title: Finding needles in haystacks: linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi

Author
item ROBBERTSE, BARBARA - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)
item SCHOCH, CONRAD - National Institutes Of Health (NIH)
item ROBERT, VINCENT - Fungal Biodiversity
item DUONG, V - Fungal Biodiversity
item CARDINALI, GIANLUIGI - Universita Di Perugia
item IRINYI, LASZLO - University Of Sydney
item MEYER, WIELAND - University Of Sydney
item Kurtzman, Cletus
item LODGE, D. JEAN - Forest Service (FS)
item NAKASONE, KAREN - Forest Service (FS)

Submitted to: Database: The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/28/2014
Publication Date: 7/1/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60379
Citation: Robbertse, B., Schoch, C.L., Robert, V., Duong, V., Cardinali, G., Irinyi, L., Meyer, W., Kurtzman, C.P., Lodge, D., Nakasone, K., et al. 2014. Finding needles in haystacks: linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi. Database: The Journal of Biological Databases and Curation. DOI: 10.1093/database/bau061.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology projects employing high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this paper we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Re-annotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated, public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL), and will be visible during routine BLAST searches with NR prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed in order to improve the data quality of new sequences and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi.