Cluster centroids selected with a preference toward using sequences that are reliable (e.g., generated from trustworthy sources contain such as the Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life project or hand-picked by taxonomic experts), taxonomically informative (e.g., identified to the species-level), or that have particular relevance for taxonomy/nomenclature (e.g., sequences from type specimens). Improvements on the horizon (slated for early 2013) included labeling sequences representing cluster centroids that will allow these unique sequences to be tracked through time as clusters change, as well as options for downloading cluster centroid sequence sets for different sequence similarity levels. With the availability of these cluster centroids, reference sequence sets for ultra-high-throughput pipelines can be directly generated from the UNITE database in a rapid manner.

The meeting allowed for coordination that resulted in the creation of an alpha version of the UNITE reference set to facilitate OTU picking and taxonomic assignment for fungal ITS sequence reads generated in high-/ultra-high-throughput sequencing runs. This reference set is now publically available on the QIIME website [12,17]. UNITE currently provides taxonomic strings based on classification schema culled from fungal taxonomic resources such as Index Fungorum [18] and MycoBank [19], which are comprehensive databases for fungal names that offer expertise and resources for improving the quality and availability of fungal taxonomic information.

Journals publishing novel fungal taxa now typically require authors to register new names in MycoBank, which in turn is encouraging submission of informative DNA sequences, such as the ITS region, associated with new taxa to the public databases. In addition to acting as sequence vouchers for type material, these data also have the potential to inform molecular studies examining Anacetrapib environmental samples. Synergistic collaboration and the flow of information between, and within, online taxonomic resources and the public sequence databases (that have expressed interest in using a global standardized taxonomy) were seen by meeting participants as being highly desirable. The integration of fungal taxonomy and phylogeny was deemed another important consideration. The Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFToL) project made considerable progress toward refining our understanding of the fungal phylogeny, which informed taxonomy for the kingdom [20]. Sequences generated under AFToL represent reliable data that are desirable for cluster centroids in the fungal reference sets.