A Custom Regional DNA Barcode Reference Library for Lichen-Forming Fungi of the Intermountain West, USA, Increases Successful Specimen Identification.

ABSTRACT: DNA barcoding approaches provide powerful tools for characterizing fungal diversity. However, DNA barcoding is limited by poor representation of species-level diversity in fungal sequence databases. Can the development of custom, regionally focused DNA reference libraries improve species-level identification rates for lichen-forming fungi? To explore this question, we created a regional ITS database for lichen-forming fungi (LFF) in the Intermountain West of the United States. The custom database comprised over 4800 sequences and represented over 600 formally described and provisional species. Lichen communities were sampled at 11 sites throughout the Intermountain West, and LFF diversity was characterized using high-throughput ITS2 amplicon sequencing. We compared the species-level identi

SUBMITTER: Kerr M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10381598 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature