PubMed
23892899
DOI
10.1038/nmeth.2575
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Accurate and universal delineation of prokaryotic species

Mende DR, Sunagawa S, Zeller G, Bork P, Nat Methods 10 (9) :881-4 (2013).

Abstract

The exponentially increasing number of sequenced genomes necessitates fast, accurate, universally applicable and automated approaches for the delineation of prokaryotic species. We developed specI (species identification tool; http://www.bork.embl.de/software/specI/), a method to group organisms into species clusters based on 40 universal, single-copy phylogenetic marker genes. Applied to 3,496 prokaryotic genomes, specI identified 1,753 species clusters. Of 314 discrepancies with a widely used taxonomic classification, >62% were resolved by literature support.