Unambiguous identification of fungi: where do we stand and how accurate and precise is fungal DNA barcoding?

作者：Robert Lücking, M. Catherine Aime, Barbara Robbertse, Andrew N. Miller, Hiran A. Ariyawansa, Takayuki Aoki, Gianluigi Cardinali, P.W. Crous, Irina S. Druzhinina, David M. Geiser, David L. Hawksworth, Kevin D. Hyde, László Irinyi, Rajesh Jeewon, Peter R. Johnston, Paul M. Kirk, Elaine Malosso, Tom W. May, Wieland Meyer, Maarja Öpik, Vincent Robert, Marc Stadler, Marco Thines, Duong Vu, Andrey Yurkov, Ning Zhang, Conrad L. Schoch · 发表于：IMA Fungus · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1186/s43008-020-00033-z · 被引用次数：507 · 研究领域：Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Interactions、Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases、Infectious Diseases and Mycology

) constitute the second largest group of organisms based on global richness estimates, with around 3 million predicted species. Compared to plants and animals, fungi have simple body plans with often morphologically and ecologically obscure structures. This poses challenges for accurate and precise identifications. Here we provide a conceptual framework for the identification of fungi, encouraging the approach of integrative (polyphasic) taxonomy for species delimitation, i.e. the combination of genealogy (phylogeny), phenotype (including autecology), and reproductive biology (when feasible). This allows objective evaluation of diagnostic characters, either phenotypic or molecular or both. Verification of identifications is crucial but often neglected. Because of clade-specific evolutionary histories, there is currently no single tool for the identification of fungi, although DNA barcoding using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) remains a first diagnosis, particularly in metabarcoding studies. Secondary DNA barcodes are increasingly implemented for groups where ITS does not provide sufficient precision. Issues of pairwise sequence similarity-based identifications and OTU clustering are discussed, and multiple sequence alignment-based phylogenetic approaches with subsequent verification are recommended as more accurate alternatives. In metabarcoding approaches, the trade-off between speed and accuracy and precision of molecular identifications must be carefully considered....