EzTaxon Database

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In bioinformatics, the EzTaxon database is a web-based tool for the identification of prokaryotes based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences. [1] EzTaxon is an open access database that is produced and maintained by ChunLab, Inc.

Bioinformatics Software tools for understanding biological data

Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combines biology, computer science, information engineering, mathematics and statistics to analyze and interpret biological data. Bioinformatics has been used for in silico analyses of biological queries using mathematical and statistical techniques.

16S ribosomal RNA ribosomal RNA

16S ribosomal RNA is the component of the 30S small subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome that binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. The genes coding for it are referred to as 16S rRNA gene and are used in reconstructing phylogenies, due to the slow rates of evolution of this region of the gene. Carl Woese and George E. Fox were two of the people who pioneered the use of 16S rRNA in phylogenetics in 1977.

Open access the availability of scientific and scholarly literature that is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions

Open access (OA) is a mechanism by which research outputs are distributed online, free of cost or other barriers, and, in its most precise meaning, with the addition of an open license applied to promote reuse.

The EzTaxon database contains sequences of type strains of prokaryotic species with validly published names. Although EzTaxon is mainly used for the routine identification of prokaryotic isolates, sequences from uncultured taxa were not included. Thus in 2012, EzTaxon was extended to include uncultured prokaryotes and the name of the database was changed to EzTaxon-e. [2]

Naming convention

Taxa names included in EzTaxon-e represent groups of uncultured sequences found in public domain databases. The names included in EzTaxon-e have no standing in formal nomenclature but they were created to help in the comparison of microbial communities and diversity in nature.

The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable.

A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, as well as viruses, in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.

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References

  1. Chun, Jongsik; Lee, Jae-Hak; Jung, Yoonyoung; Kim, Myungjin; Kim, Seil; Kwon Kim, Byung; Lim, Young-Woon (2007). "EzTaxon: a web-based tool for the identification of prokaryotes based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 57 (10): 2259–2261. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.64915-0. PMID   17911292.
  2. Kim, OS; Cho, YJ; Lee, K; Yoon, SH; Kim, M; Na, H; Park, SC; Jeon, YS; Lee, JH; Yi, H; Won, S; Chun, J (2012). "Introducing EzTaxon-e: a prokaryotic 16S rRNA gene sequence database with phylotypes that represent uncultured species". Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 62 (3): 716–21. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.038075-0. PMID   22140171.