"Can you bank on GenBank?"

[David Orlovich]

Hi Nico et al.

See also:
On the unreliability of published DNA sequences
Paul D. Bridge, Peter J. Roberts, Brian M. Spooner, Gita Panchal
New Phytologist
Volume 160, Issue 1, Page 43-48, Oct 2003


The is a commentary in the same issue. Cheers, David.

On 3/09/2004, at 11:38 AM, Nico Mario Franz wrote:

> That's the title of an article by D.J. Harris (TREE 18: 317-319, 2003)
> in
> which he reviews the extent of "erroneous submissions" of sequences to
> GenBank. I'm interested in finding out what Taxacomers' experiences are
> concerning the *taxonomy* adopted by GenBank in order to structure the
> information.
>
> GenBank offers some insights here:
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/taxonomyhome.html/index.cgi?
> chapter=CHANGETOCLASS
>
> but otherwise often states: "The NCBI taxonomy database is not an
> authoritative source for nomenclature or classification - please
> consult
> the relevant scientific literature for the most reliable information."
>
> Is the somewhat rudimentary taxonomy of GenBank starting to become a
> practical problem? What about outdated names, or relationships we now
> "know" to be different? Is there a GenBank taxonomic advisory committee
> trying to address the issues? Are there any documents on this subject?
> Anyone I could contact for an insight scoop?
>
> Anything from personal rants or laudatios to guides to other sources
> would
> be highly appreciated. FYI this ties into developments of unique
> digital
> identifiers for so-called "taxonomic concepts" (TDWG, etc.).
>
> Nico Franz
>
Dr David Orlovich,
Department of Botany,
University of Otago,
P.O. Box 56,
Dunedin, New Zealand.

Phone: +643 479 9060
Fax: +643 479 7583
www: http://www.botany.otago.ac.nz/