The UNITE database for molecular identification and taxonomic communication of fungi and other eukaryotes: sequences, taxa and classifications reconsidered

Kessy Abarenkov(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), R. Henrik Nilsson(University of Gothenburg), Karl‐Henrik Larsson(University of Oslo), Andy F. S. Taylor(James Hutton Institute), Tom W. May(Royal Botanic Garden Sydney), Tobias Guldberg Frøslev(Global Biodiversity Information Facility), Julia Pawłowska(University of Warsaw), Björn D. Lindahl(Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Kadri Põldmaa(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Camille Truong(Royal Botanic Garden Sydney), Duong Vu(Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute), Tsuyoshi Hosoya(National Museum of Nature and Science), Tuula Niskanen(University of Helsinki), Timo Piirmann(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Filipp Ivanov(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Allan Zirk(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Marko Peterson(University of Tartu), Tanya E. Cheeke(Washington State University), Yui Ishigami(University of Tartu), Tobias Jansson(University of Gothenburg), Thomas Stjernegaard Jeppesen(Global Biodiversity Information Facility), Erik Kristiansson(Chalmers University of Technology), Vladimir Mikryukov(University of Tartu), Joseph T. Miller(Global Biodiversity Information Facility), Ryoko Oono(University of California, Santa Barbara), Francisco J. Ossandon, Joana Paupério(European Bioinformatics Institute), Irja Saar(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Dmitry Schigel(Global Biodiversity Information Facility), Ave Suija(University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden), Leho Tedersoo(University of Tartu), Urmas Kõljalg(University of Tartu)
Nucleic Acids Research
November 11, 2023
10.1093/nar/gkad1039
Cited by 672Open Access
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Abstract

UNITE (https://unite.ut.ee) is a web-based database and sequence management environment for molecular identification of eukaryotes. It targets the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and offers nearly 10 million such sequences for reference. These are clustered into ∼2.4M species hypotheses (SHs), each assigned a unique digital object identifier (DOI) to promote unambiguous referencing across studies. UNITE users have contributed over 600 000 third-party sequence annotations, which are shared with a range of databases and other community resources. Recent improvements facilitate the detection of cross-kingdom biological associations and the integration of undescribed groups of organisms into everyday biological pursuits. Serving as a digital twin for eukaryotic biodiversity and communities worldwide, the latest release of UNITE offers improved avenues for biodiversity discovery, precise taxonomic communication and integration of biological knowledge across platforms.

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