Best Gene for Fungi DNA Barcoding Symposium in Amsterdam

On 19–20 April 2011, 55 mycologists from 18 countries, including most members of the Fungal Working Group (FWG) of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) came together at the Bazel Conference Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands to discuss and select an appropriate DNA barcode marker for the Fungal Kingdom. Prior to the meeting an international group of mycologists volunteered DNA and DNA sequence data for six preselected gene regions (more information on http://www.fungalbarcoding.org) representing all major lineages in the Eumycota for preliminary analyses. The first day of the meeting consisted of presentations and discussions focused on several fungal taxonomic groups and the utility of the selected genes in the taxonomy of these groups. Based on the preliminary analyses of the sequence data as well as high PCR and sequencing success rates, the internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 and the 5.8S gene region (ITS), giving a 72% identification success rate for all fungi, was shown to be the best candidate as DNA barcode marker for fungi. On the second day presentations and discussions were continued, with focus on the possibility of including a secondary barcode marker. However, it was agreed that it would be preferable to stay with a single gene barcode for fungi, which in this case was the ITS gene region. The meeting was concluded with a structured publication plan for the formal proposal of ITS as the DNA barcode for fungi to CBOL, and future applications of DNA barcoding of fungi. This meeting highlighted the huge interest of the international mycological community in DNA barcoding based on the active participation in discussions held during the meeting. The organisers of the meeting would like to thank CBOL for financial support that made the meeting possible.The Fungal Working group will again convene in Adelaide for the 4th CBOL conference on DNA Barcoding, scheduled for 28 November to 3 December 2011. The call for abstracts is open, and can be found at:  http://www.dnabarcodes2011.org/conference/program/abstract_submission/. 

There are three categories of sessions plus poster presentations. These are:  plenary sessions, taxon-oriented parallel technical sessions, and thematic parallel technical sessions.