The UNITE database for molecular identification and taxonomic communication of fungi and other eukaryotes : sequences, taxa and classifications reconsidered

Acknowledgements We acknowledge Marie Zirk for her work in designing the UNITE logotype and creating the visual abstract for this article. Funding UNITE database development is financed by the Estonian Research Council [PRG1170]; European Union's Horizon 2020 project BGE [101059492]. The PlutoF digital infrastructure is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 project BiCIKL [101007492]; Estonian Research Infrastructure roadmap project DiSSCo Estonia. Funding for open access charge: UNITE Community. Conflict of interest statement. None declared.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

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The largest type study of <i>Agaricales</i> species to date:bringing identification and nomenclature of <i>Phlegmacium</i> (<i>Cortinarius</i>) into the DNA era

Cortinarius is a species-rich and morphologically challenging genus with a cosmopolitan distribution. Many names have not been used consistently and in some instances the same species has been described two or more times under separate names. This study focuses on subg. Phlegmacium as traditionally defined and includes species from boreal and temperate areas of the northern hemisphere. Our goals for this project were to: i) study type material to determine which species already have been described; ii) stabilize the use of Friesian and other older names by choosing a neo- or epitype; iii) describe new species that were discovered during the process of studying specimens; and iv) establish an accurate ITS barcoding database for Phlegmacium species. A total of 236 types representing 154 species were studied. Of these 114 species are described only once whereas 40 species had one ore more synonyms. Of the names studied only 61 were currently represented in GenBank. Neotypes are proposed for 21 species, and epitypes are designated for three species. In addition, 20 new species are described and six new combinations made. As a consequence ITS barcodes for 175 Cortinarius species are released

Treated like dirt: Robust forensic and ecological inferences from soil eDNA after challenging sample storage

Abstract Biodiversity of soil is routinely assessed with environmental DNA—most often by massive parallel sequencing of marker genes (eDNA metabarcoding). Soil biodiversity may be investigated in relation to biodiversity research or as a tool in forensic investigations. After sampling, the taxonomic composition of soil biotic communities may change. In order to minimize community changes, it is desirable to reduce biological activity, e.g., by freezing immediately after sampling. However, this may be impossible due to remoteness of study sites or, in forensic cases, where soil has been attached to an item of interest for protracted periods of time. Here, we investigated the effect of storage duration and conditions on the assessment of the soil biota with eDNA metabarcoding. We extracted eDNA from freshly collected soil samples and again from the same samples after storage under contrasting temperature conditions and contrasting exposure (open/closed tubes). We used four different primer sets targeting bacteria, fungi, protists (cercozoans), and general eukaryotes. We quantified differences in richness, evenness, and community composition. Subsequently, we tested whether we could correctly infer habitat type and original sample identity after storage using a large reference dataset. We found stronger community composition differences with extended storage time and with higher storage temperature, and differences between open and closed tubes. However, for samples stored <28 days at a maximum of 20°C, changes were generally insignificant. Classification models successfully assigned most samples to their exact location of origin and correct habitat type even after 480 days storage. Even samples showing larger changes generally retained the original sample as the best match. For most biodiversity and forensic applications, storage of samples for days and even several weeks may thus not be a problem, if storage temperature does not exceed 20°C