GenBank & Taxonomical Nomenclature/identification

[Doug Yanega]

Carol Hotton wrote:

>On Thu, 27 Jul 2000, Doug Yanega wrote:
>
>> Apparently, after depositing a sequence in GenBank's archives, you
>> CANNOT change its species designation, even if it is later
>> discovered (by reference to voucher material, taxonomic revision,
>> etc.) to be erroneous.
>
>Speaking for the five individuals who maintain the taxonomy database
>associated with the GenBank sequence databases, I just want to correct
>an erroneous statement from Doug Yanega that it is not possible to
>correct species designations after an associated sequence has been
>deposited in GenBank.  It would certainly be most distressing,
>especially to us, if this were true, but fortunately it is not true.

Perhaps things have changed then, or I was misremembering the circumstances
- this was at least 5 or more years ago, which is why my recollection of
the details is quite skimpy. One way or another, though, an erroneous name
(where the sequence belonged to a species other than the original one
designated) was brought to GenBank's attention, and the response given at
the time was that no change in an extant record was possible, though a new
submission could be made using the same sequence but under the correct
name. Perhaps this was an individual judgment call, rather than general
policy. It caused some consternation at the time, which is why it stuck in
my head. My apologies for not being able to offer specifics, and I'm
certainly glad if it is NOT the way things operate presently.

>Furthermore, we strongly urge the community of people who use the
>GenBank taxonomy database to let us know about errors that they find
>there, whether they are misspellings, orthgraphic variants, misnomers
>or incorrect or outdated classifications, by sending their comments to
>info at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. The five of us are responsible for maintaining
>an up-to-date classification of the entire range of living organisms,
>and we need all the help we can get!

And if a sequence registered for, say, Drosophila, is obviously that of
another organism entirely, like a honeybee? Can such a record be removed or
changed? It *may* have been just such an error in the case I'm referring
to. Again, my apologies for not being able to recall more specifics.

Sincerely,


Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
           http://insects.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82