UNITE database

[Urmas Kõljalg]

Dear all,

UNITE, a database providing web-based methods for the  molecular
identification of ectomycorrhizal fungi is released.

The UNITE is accessible through the URL http://unite.zbi.ee

UNITE is a rDNA sequence database focused on ectomycorrhizal asco- and
basidiomycetes. The database initially holds only sequences from the
ITS region. The sequences are generated from fruit bodies collected
and identified by specialists and deposited in public herbaria; type
specimens are used whenever possible. Selected species also have full
descriptions and illustrations linked to the sequences.

The purpose of the database is to facilitate identification of
environmental samples of fungal DNA. UNITE includes several tools that
aid in the identification of unknown sequences. Since unequivocal
identification is the main purpose behind UNITE, the implementation of
tools that extend beyond simple similarity searches (as offered by
BLAST and variations thereof) was an essential part of the database
development. This requirement has been met by the development of
galaxie, which allows web-based, basic phylogenetic analyses. Galaxie
provides maximum parsimony heuristic and neighbour joining analyses
under different evolutionary models. To date, two galaxie
(galaxieBLAST, galaxieHMM) and one BLAST script have been implemented.


Best wishes,
Urmas
_______________
Prof. Urmas Kõljalg
40 Lai Str.
Institute of Botany and Ecology
University of Tartu
EE-51005 Tartu
Estonia