Author
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Kurtzman, Cletus |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2010 Publication Date: 7/1/2010 Citation: Kurtzman, C.P. 2010. Barcoding the Yeasts – Which Genes?. Meeting Abstract. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Old style yeast identification, as many know, is an onerous process requiring determination of growth reactions on 60-100 different media. Once completed, there is still a high degree of uncertainty about species identity. With the determination of sequences for domains 1 and 2 (D1/D2) of the nuclear large subunit rRNA gene for all known ascomycetous yeasts in 1998 and all known basidiomycetous yeasts in 2000, yeast taxonomists quickly adopted these databases for species identification. Results of this change were the doubling of known yeasts in the past decade and the development of commercial diagnostic systems using these databases, which continue to expand with the description of new species. Consequently, the D1/D2 gene sequence has become the barcode for yeasts. After a decade of use, is D1/D2 still the best choice for a yeast barcoding system? Data from D1/D2, ITS, mitochondrial small subunit rRNA, translation elongation factor 1-a, and actin gene sequences will be presented contrasting resolution of species within several phylogenetic lineages. From the results, if a single gene sequence is to be used, D1/D2 is probably the best choice because it is easily sequenced and there already exists a very large database in GenBank. However, D1/D2, or any other single gene sequence, will not reveal the presence of hybrids, and D1/D2 sequences do not always resolve closely related species, a deficiency shared by certain other genes. From these comparisons, the recommendation for species identification is to use a multigene system of which D1/D2 is a member. |
