EzTaxon: a web-based tool for the identification of prokaryotes based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences.
16S rRNA gene sequences have been widely used for the identification of prokaryotes. However, the flood of sequences of non-type strains and the lack of a peer-reviewed database for 16S rRNA gene sequences of type strains have made routine identification of isolates difficult and labour-intensive. In the present study, we generated a database containing 16S rRNA gene sequences of all prokaryotic type strains. In addition, a web-based tool, named EzTaxon, for analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences was constructed to achieve identification of isolates based on pairwise nucleotide similarity values and phylogenetic inference methods. The system developed provides users with a similarity-based search, multiple sequence alignment and various phylogenetic analyses. All of these functions together with the 16S rRNA gene sequence database of type strains can be successfully used for automated and reliable identification of prokaryotic isolates. The EzTaxon server is freely accessible over the Internet at http://www.eztaxon.org/
Chun
Jongsik
J
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.|Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Lee
Jae-Hak
JH
Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Jung
Yoonyoung
Y
Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Myungjin
M
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Seil
S
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Byung Kwon
BK
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Lim
Young-Woon
YW
School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, 56-1 Shillim-dong, Kwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D020407:Internet; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S