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UNITE: a database providing web-based methods for the molecular identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi

  1. Urmas Kõljalg1,11,*,
  2. Karl-Henrik Larsson2,11,
  3. Kessy Abarenkov1,11,
  4. R. Henrik Nilsson2,11,
  5. Ian J. Alexander3,
  6. Ursula Eberhardt4,
  7. Susanne Erland5,
  8. Klaus Høiland9,
  9. Rasmus Kjøller6,
  10. Ellen Larsson2,
  11. Taina Pennanen7,
  12. Robin Sen8,
  13. Andy F. S. Taylor4,
  14. Leho Tedersoo1,
  15. Trude Vrålstad9,
  16. Björn M. Ursing10

Article first published online: 16 MAR 2005

DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01376.x

Issue

New Phytologist

New Phytologist

Volume 166, Issue 3, pages 1063–1068, June 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

Kõljalg, U., Larsson, K.-H., Abarenkov, K., Nilsson, R. H., Alexander, I. J., Eberhardt, U., Erland, S., Høiland, K., Kjøller, R., Larsson, E., Pennanen, T., Sen, R., Taylor, A. F. S., Tedersoo, L., Vrålstad, T. and Björn M. Ursing (2005), UNITE: a database providing web-based methods for the molecular identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi. New Phytologist, 166: 1063–1068. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01376.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Botany, University of Tartu, 40 Lai Str., EE-51005 Tartu, Estonia;

  2. 2

    Systematic Botany, Göteborg University, Box 461, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden;

  3. 3

    Aberdeen University, Plant and Soil Science, Cruickshank Building, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK;

  4. 4

    Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Forest Mycology and Pathology, Box 7026, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden;

  5. 5

    Lund University, Microbial Ecology, Ecology Building, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden;

  6. 6

    University of Copenhagen, Botanical Institute, Department of Mycology, Oster Farimagsgade 2D, DK-1353 Copenhagen K, Denmark;

  7. 7

    METLA, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Centre, Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland;

  8. 8

    The Macaulay Institute, Environmental Sciences Group, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK;

  9. 9

    University of Oslo, Division of Botany and Plant Physiology, Department of Biology, PO Box 1045 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway;

  10. 10

    Karolinska Institutet, Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Berzelius v. 35, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden;

  11. 11

    These four authors contributed equally to this work

*Author for correspondence: Urmas Kõljalg Tel: +372 738 3027 Fax: +372 738 3013 Email: urmas.koljalg@ut.ee

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 MAR 2005
  2. Article first published online: 16 MAR 2005
  3. Received: 29 October 2004 Accepted: 22 December 2004

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Keywords:

  • DNA taxonomy;
  • ectomycorrhiza;
  • fungi;
  • molecular identification;
  • sequence database;
  • UNITE

Summary

  • • 
    Identification of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi is often achieved through comparisons of ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences with accessioned sequences deposited in public databases. A major problem encountered is that annotation of the sequences in these databases is not always complete or trustworthy. In order to overcome this deficiency, we report on UNITE, an open-access database.
  • • 
    UNITE comprises well annotated fungal ITS sequences from well defined herbarium specimens that include full herbarium reference identification data, collector/source and ecological data. At present UNITE contains 758 ITS sequences from 455 species and 67 genera of ECM fungi.
  • • 
    UNITE can be searched by taxon name, via sequence similarity using blastn, and via phylogenetic sequence identification using galaxie. Following implementation, galaxie performs a phylogenetic analysis of the query sequence after alignment either to pre-existing generic alignments, or to matches retrieved from a blast search on the UNITE data. It should be noted that the current version of UNITE is dedicated to the reliable identification of ECM fungi.
  • • 
    The UNITE database is accessible through the URL http://unite.zbi.ee
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