Diat.barcode, an open-access curated barcode library for diatoms.

Area of Science:

• Marine Biology
• Microbiology
• Ecology

Background:

• Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) are vital microalgae contributing significantly to aquatic productivity.
• Their morphological diversity makes them key ecological indicators.
• Traditional identification relies on exoskeleton morphology, which can be time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the need for a dedicated, expertly curated diatom reference library for DNA barcoding.
• To facilitate accurate species-level identification of diatoms using molecular methods.
• To enhance ecological assessments in aquatic ecosystems.

Main Methods:

• Development and curation of the Diat.barcode open-access library, maintained since 2012.
• Inclusion of data from NCBI nucleotide database and culture collection sequencing data.
• Expert curation of the rbcL chloroplast marker for species identification, with ongoing updates.

Main Results:

• The Diat.barcode library provides a specialized resource for diatom DNA barcoding.
• Version 7 of the database involved significant taxonomic name corrections (605 out of 3482).
• High-throughput sequencing combined with the curated library enables cost-effective, rapid environmental sample analysis.

Conclusions:

• A dedicated, curated diatom reference library is essential for accurate DNA-based identification.
• Diat.barcode significantly improves the reliability of ecological indicator assessments.
• The library supports advanced molecular ecology research and environmental monitoring.