LINbase

LINbase assigns Life Identification Numbers (LINs) based on genome similarity to enable genomic circumscription of monophyletic bacterial taxa using next-generation and third-generation DNA sequencing data.

Key Features:

• Genomic circumscription of taxa: Allows genomic definition of monophyletic bacterial groups as distinct taxa with associated names and descriptions.
• Life Identification Numbers (LINs): Generates unique identifiers assigned from genome similarity metrics to facilitate identification at multiple taxonomic resolutions.
• Crowdsourcing and collaboration: Accepts user-uploaded genome sequences and genomes imported from GenBank to support community-defined taxa while preserving confidentiality for unpublished or proprietary genomes.

Scientific Applications:

• Microbial identification: Enables identification of microorganisms at multiple taxonomic levels by comparing gene or genome sequences to defined taxa.
• Pathogen attribution: Links pathogen isolates to defined taxa to support outbreak investigation, epidemiological analyses, and public health responses.
• Taxonomy development: Supports definition and refinement of bacterial taxa based on genomic circumscription contributed by the research community.

Methodology:

Assigns LINs using efficient computational algorithms that compute genome similarity metrics from next-generation and third-generation DNA sequencing data and compares user-uploaded or GenBank-imported sequences against crowdsourced taxa.