Exhaustive reanalysis of barcode sequences from public repositories highlights ongoing misidentifications and impacts taxa diversity and distribution.

• Published in: Molecular Ecology Resources
• Main Authors: Fort, Antoine, Mchale, Marcus, Cascella, Kevin, Potin, Philippe, Perrineau, Marie-Mathilde, Kerrison, Philip, da Costa, Elisabete, Calado, Ricardo, Domingues, Maria, Costa Azevedo, Isabel, Sousa-Pinto, Isabel, Gachon, Claire, van Der Werf, Adrie, de Visser, Willem, Beniers, Johanna, Jansen, Henrice, Guiry, Michael, Sulpice, Ronan
• Other Authors: National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway), Laboratoire de Biologie Intégrative des Modèles Marins (LBI2M), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Station biologique de Roscoff (SBR), Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Laboratorio Associado para a Quimica Verde (LAQV), Requimte, Universidade do Porto = University of Porto-Departamento de Química (DQ), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia = School of Science & Technology (FCT NOVA), Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA)-Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA)-Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia = School of Science & Technology (FCT NOVA), Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA)-Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA)-Universidade do Porto = University of Porto-Departamento de Química (DQ), Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA)-Universidade Nova de Lisboa = NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA), Centro de Estudos do Ambiante e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research Matosinhos, Portugal (CIIMAR), Universidade do Porto = University of Porto, Molécules de Communication et Adaptation des Micro-organismes (MCAM), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Wageningen University and Research Wageningen (WUR), Martin Ryan Institute
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Ulva; Aquaculture; DNA barcoding; Phylogeny; Sea lettuce; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03268583; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03268583/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03268583/file/1755-0998.13453.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13453

International audience Accurate species identification often relies on public repositories to compare the barcode sequences of the investigated individual(s) with taxonomically assigned sequences. However, the accuracy of identifications in public repositories is often questionable, and the names originally given are rarely updated. For instance, species of the Sea Lettuce (Ulva spp.; Ulvophyceae, Ulvales, Ulvaceae) are frequently misidentified in public repositories, including herbaria and gene banks, making species identification based on traditional barcoding unreliable. We DNA barcoded 295 individual distromatic foliose strains of Ulva from the North-East Atlantic for three loci (rbcL, tufA, ITS1). Seven distinct species were found, and we compared our results with all worldwide Ulva spp sequences present in the NCBI database for the three barcodes rbcL, tufA and the ITS1. Our results demonstrate a large degree of species misidentification, where we estimate that 24 to 32% of the entries pertaining to foliose species are misannotated and provide an exhaustive list of NCBI sequences reannotations. An analysis of the global distribution of registered samples from foliose species also indicates possible geographical isolation for some species, and the absence of U. lactuca from Northern Europe. We extended our analytical framework to three other genera, Fucus, Porphyra and Pyropia and also identified erroneously labelled accessions and possibly new synonymies, albeit less than for Ulva spp. Altogether, exhaustive taxonomic clarification by aggregation of a library of barcode sequences highlights misannotations and delivers an improved representation of species diversity and distribution.