How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification

R. Henrik Nilsson; Martin Ryberg; Christian Wurzbacher; Leho Tedersoo; Sten Anslan; Sergei Põlme; Viacheslav Spirin; Vladimir Mikryukov; Sten Svantesson; Martin Hartmann; Charlotte Lennartsdotter; Pauline Belford; Maryia Khomich; Alice Retter; Natàlia Corcoll; Daniela Gómez Martinez; Tobias Jansson; Masoomeh Ghobad-Nejhad; Duong Vu; Marisol Sanchez-Garcia; Erik Kristiansson; Kessy Abarenkov

doi:10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669

How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification

R. Henrik Nilsson, Martin Ryberg, Christian Wurzbacher, Leho Tedersoo, Sten Anslan, Sergei Põlme, Viacheslav Spirin, Vladimir Mikryukov, Sten Svantesson, Martin Hartmann, Charlotte Lennartsdotter, Pauline Belford, Maryia Khomich, Alice Retter, Natàlia Corcoll, Daniela Gómez Martinez, Tobias Jansson, Masoomeh Ghobad-Nejhad, Duong Vu, Marisol Sanchez-GarciaErik Kristiansson, Kessy Abarenkov

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fungal metabarcoding of substrates such as soil, wood, and water is uncovering an unprecedented number of fungal species that do not seem to produce tangible morphological structures and that defy our best attempts at cultivation, thus falling outside the scope of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The present study uses the new, ninth release of the species hypotheses of the UNITE database to show that species discovery through environmental sequencing vastly outpaces traditional, Sanger sequencing-based efforts in a strongly increasing trend over the last five years. Our findings challenge the present stance of some in the mycological community – that the current situation is satisfactory and that no change is needed to “the code” – and suggest that we should be discussing not whether to allow DNA-based descriptions (typifications) of species and by extension higher ranks of fungi, but what the precise requirements for such DNA-based typifications should be. We submit a tentative list of such criteria for further discussion. The present authors hope for a revitalized and deepened discussion on DNA-based typification, because to us it seems harmful and counter-productive to intentionally deny the overwhelming majority of extant fungi a formal standing under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	143-157
Number of pages	15
Journal	MycoKeys
Volume	96
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669
Publication status	Published - 2023

Keywords

Dark taxa
ICN
nomenclature
species description
taxonomy
type principle

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10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669

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Nilsson, R. H., Ryberg, M., Wurzbacher, C., Tedersoo, L., Anslan, S., Põlme, S., Spirin, V., Mikryukov, V., Svantesson, S., Hartmann, M., Lennartsdotter, C., Belford, P., Khomich, M., Retter, A., Corcoll, N., Martinez, D. G., Jansson, T., Ghobad-Nejhad, M., Vu, D., ... Abarenkov, K. (2023). How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification. MycoKeys, 96, 143-157. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669

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abstract = "Fungal metabarcoding of substrates such as soil, wood, and water is uncovering an unprecedented number of fungal species that do not seem to produce tangible morphological structures and that defy our best attempts at cultivation, thus falling outside the scope of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The present study uses the new, ninth release of the species hypotheses of the UNITE database to show that species discovery through environmental sequencing vastly outpaces traditional, Sanger sequencing-based efforts in a strongly increasing trend over the last five years. Our findings challenge the present stance of some in the mycological community – that the current situation is satisfactory and that no change is needed to “the code” – and suggest that we should be discussing not whether to allow DNA-based descriptions (typifications) of species and by extension higher ranks of fungi, but what the precise requirements for such DNA-based typifications should be. We submit a tentative list of such criteria for further discussion. The present authors hope for a revitalized and deepened discussion on DNA-based typification, because to us it seems harmful and counter-productive to intentionally deny the overwhelming majority of extant fungi a formal standing under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.",

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year = "2023",

doi = "10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669",

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Nilsson, RH, Ryberg, M, Wurzbacher, C, Tedersoo, L, Anslan, S, Põlme, S, Spirin, V, Mikryukov, V, Svantesson, S, Hartmann, M, Lennartsdotter, C, Belford, P, Khomich, M, Retter, A, Corcoll, N, Martinez, DG, Jansson, T, Ghobad-Nejhad, M, Vu, D, Sanchez-Garcia, M, Kristiansson, E & Abarenkov, K 2023, 'How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification', MycoKeys, vol. 96, pp. 143-157. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669

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T1 - How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification

AU - Nilsson, R. Henrik

AU - Ryberg, Martin

AU - Wurzbacher, Christian

AU - Tedersoo, Leho

AU - Anslan, Sten

AU - Põlme, Sergei

AU - Spirin, Viacheslav

AU - Mikryukov, Vladimir

AU - Svantesson, Sten

AU - Hartmann, Martin

AU - Lennartsdotter, Charlotte

AU - Belford, Pauline

AU - Khomich, Maryia

AU - Retter, Alice

AU - Corcoll, Natàlia

AU - Martinez, Daniela Gómez

AU - Jansson, Tobias

AU - Ghobad-Nejhad, Masoomeh

AU - Vu, Duong

AU - Sanchez-Garcia, Marisol

AU - Kristiansson, Erik

AU - Abarenkov, Kessy

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Fungal metabarcoding of substrates such as soil, wood, and water is uncovering an unprecedented number of fungal species that do not seem to produce tangible morphological structures and that defy our best attempts at cultivation, thus falling outside the scope of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The present study uses the new, ninth release of the species hypotheses of the UNITE database to show that species discovery through environmental sequencing vastly outpaces traditional, Sanger sequencing-based efforts in a strongly increasing trend over the last five years. Our findings challenge the present stance of some in the mycological community – that the current situation is satisfactory and that no change is needed to “the code” – and suggest that we should be discussing not whether to allow DNA-based descriptions (typifications) of species and by extension higher ranks of fungi, but what the precise requirements for such DNA-based typifications should be. We submit a tentative list of such criteria for further discussion. The present authors hope for a revitalized and deepened discussion on DNA-based typification, because to us it seems harmful and counter-productive to intentionally deny the overwhelming majority of extant fungi a formal standing under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

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KW - Dark taxa

KW - ICN

KW - nomenclature

KW - species description

KW - taxonomy

KW - type principle

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U2 - 10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669

DO - 10.3897/mycokeys.96.102669

M3 - Article

SN - 1314-4057

VL - 96

SP - 143

EP - 157

JO - MycoKeys

JF - MycoKeys

ER -

How, not if, is the question mycologists should be asking about DNA-based typification

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Keywords

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