Gert

Congratulations on the launch!! You've done some hard work on this, and we appreciate your efforts.  This will be an excellent tool for the community and I look forward to its application in real biological problems. 

Best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Joe



Jose V. Lopez, Ph.D
Molecular Biologist
Center for Coastal Research
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
5600 US 1 North
Ft Pierce FL 34946
P: 772-465-2400, ext 478
F: 772-461-2221
http://www.hboi.edu/dbmr/lopez.html

Celebrating 35 years of ocean exploration, research, and education.


> ----------
> From: 	Sponge biology and chemistry list on behalf of Gert Wörheide
> Reply To: 	Sponge biology and chemistry list
> Sent: 	Wednesday, January 10, 2007 8:51 AM
> To: 	[log in to unmask]
> Subject: 	Sponge Barcoding Database launched
> 
> [apologies for cross-posting]
> 
> Dear colleagues,
> the Sponge Barcoding Database (SBD) has been launched and can be  
> accessed via the 'Data' button at the Sponge Barcoding Project's  
> website (www.spongebarcoding.org).
> 
> Sponges are among the most ancestral metazoans and are notoriously  
> difficult to identify, even by taxonomic experts due to their  
> depauperate suite of complex morphologial characters. However, as a  
> group they are highly diverse, ecologically important and of  
> significant commercial importance to the pharmaceutical and  
> biomaterials industry. Therefore, means of unambiguous  
> identifications are urgently needed. Sponge DNA signature sequences  
> (DNA barcodes) will provide a set of indispensable tools to aid  
> taxonomists and ecologists in the identification of sponge species,  
> and will enhance the discovery of drug-producing species.
> 
> The Sponge Barcoding Database (SBD) has been developed with the aim  
> to function as the primary access point for DNA signature sequences  
> together with providing information on conventional morphological  
> taxonomic characters to aid species discovery, description and  
> characterization.
> The unique combination of sponge-specific conventional taxonomic  
> information and DNA signature sequences is the distinguishing  
> feature, in which the SBD differs from other database systems, such  
> as Genbank or the Barcode of Life Data Systems. While records of the  
> SBD will be linked with both databases in the future, both do not  
> provide the desired flexibility and have the desired options  
> available, e.g. they do not provide fields to store more detailed  
> (morphological) taxonomic descriptions.
> An additional backbone for nomenclatorial and taxonomical entries is  
> the cross-linking to the World Porifera Database (WPD, http:// 
> www.vliz.be/vmdcdata/porifera/index.php) which will provide the  
> ultimate taxonomic authority with regards to accepted species names.
> 
> 
> Currently, the SBD provides two categories of records:
> 
> REFERENCE: records from described species with a full taxonomic  
> description, DNA signature sequence(s), and verification of voucher  
> material by a recognized taxonomic expert.
> SUBMITTED: records from described species that either lack full  
> taxonomic description or verification by a taxonomic expert, or DNA  
> signature sequences from as yet undescribed and unverified species.  
> We strongly suggest using those records only for comparative purposes  
> and NOT for species identification.
> 
> The SBD does not contain many entries yet, but will be populated  
> soon, e.g. with numerous records from the Caribbean coral reefs which  
> have generously been provided by Sandra Duran.
> 
> To check out the functionality of the SBD, search for "Astrosclera"  
> as genus name on the search page or click on 'Specimen list'. Then  
> click on the record number on the results page to view the record.  
> The page of the record is a condensed view, click on 'show/hide' to  > 
> see expanded views of the 'Morphological description', 'Reference',  
> or 'Associated DNA Sequences'. A click on the latitude/longitude data  
> opens up Google Maps where the exact sample location is displayed on  
> a map and/or satellite image. DNA signature sequences can be  
> downloaded in FASTA format.
> 
> We sincerely hope to provide a useful service for the scientific  
> community with the Sponge Barcoding Project and its Database,  
> however, its success critically depends on the data YOU submit!
> 
> To submit records to the SBD you should follow the guidelines and use  
> the Excel spreadsheet template we provide on the 'Data' page (to be  
> found below the 'Go' button). Each record should contain a  
> morphological description and species identification, which will be  
> verified by an acknowledged taxonomic expert for the group before its  
> status is set to REFERENCE.
> 
> I would like to acknowledge Christian Menke contribution of  
> programming of the SBD, several members of the SBP steering group for  
> help and advice in implementing the structure of the SBD, especially  
> Dirk Erpenbeck, Bob Thacker and Joe Lopez and of course Sandra Duran  
> for providing her database.
> 
> 
> Best regards, and happy new year!
> 
> Gert Wörheide
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Gert Wörheide
> Junior Professor for Geobiology
> Geoscience Centre Göttingen
> Dept. of Geobiology
> Goldschmidtstr.3
> 37077 Göttingen, Germany
> 
> Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology
> University of Göttingen
> 
> phone: +49-(0)551 39 14 177
> mobile: +49-(0)178 537 22 33
> fax: +49-(0)551-39 79 18
> SkypeIn: +49-(0)551-29 81 400
> Skype: spongegert
> 
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> www.geobiology.eu
> www.spongebarcoding.org
> www.geobiologie.uni-goettingen.de
> www.biodiversitaet.gwdg.de
> 
> ===============================
> Associate Editor Porifera
> -- Zootaxa --
> www.mapress.com/zootaxa/
> ===============================
> 
>