To be a more reliable resource for DNA-based identification, reference sequences derived from type specimens (which act as references for species) need to be labelled with the correct and most up-to-date species name. The Fungi RefSeq targeted loci databases provide this valuable resource. For example, PRJNA177353 is a BioProject that specifically focuses on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions in the nuclear ribosomal cistron which has been used for many years as a phylogenetic marker and recently approved as the formal barcode sequence of Fungi (41). The ITS RefSeq database started out as a collaboration with Index Fungorum, MycoBank and UNITE, as well as a large group of taxonomic specialists. Sequences were selected, mostly from type specimens of valid descriptions, and then current correct species names were associated with the sequences with the aim to represent most of the accepted fungal orders (8). Results from this curation effort have been used and cited by various publications (42–46) and have aided additional efforts at validating subsets of reference sequences, e.g. medically significant species (47).
