Clarissa Balbalian (Editor)
The Communicator: Volume 5, Issue 5, May 2024
Rust HUBB (Herbarium-based Universal Barcode Blast) is a new, publicly available, searchable online database for identifying rust fungi.
Rust fungi (order Pucciniales) are difficult to identify morphologically. The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) is the universal barcode for fungi, but it does not work well for separating Pucciniales because of their widespread intragenomic variation within this region. The 28S large ribosomal subunit is the standard for identifying rust fungi.
Purdue University houses The Arthur Fungarium (PUR), which is one of the most comprehensive collections of rust fungi in the world. Using PUR voucher specimens and fresh collections, members of Dr. Catherine Aime’s laboratory in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University generated DNA barcodes of the 28S ribosomal repeat from thousands of rust specimens. The resulting barcoded material currently includes over 4000 sequences representing 125 genera and 1150 species from all continents. This data is curated in an online database housed on the Rust HUBB website which accessible from the Aime lab website. The database will be updated as new vouchered and verified sequence data becomes available.
Rust HUBB is publicly available. To search, simply enter the 28S barcodes of unknown rusts into the search bar. Results are sorted by best match and will include Query Coverage (%), Total Score, E Value, and Identity (%). Search results also will include corresponding data, like collection and voucher numbers, GenBank number, host family, host genus and species, and country of origin.
For detailed information on the methodology and development of Rust HUBB and higher rank classifcation of Pucciniales, see the references listed below.
References:
Kaishian, P., Layug, C.R.K., Anderson, M., Berg, D.R., and Aime, M.C. Rust HUBB: DNA barcode-based identification of Pucciniales. IMA Fungus (2024) 15:3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43008-023-00132-7
Aime MC, McTaggart AR. 2020. A higher-rank classification for rust fungi, with notes on genera. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 7:21-47. 10.3114/fuse.2021.07.02
