The Barcode of Life Data System (commonly known as BOLD or BOLDSystems) is a web platform specifically devoted to
DNA barcoding
DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indi ...
.
It is a cloud-based data storage and analysis platform developed at the
Centre for Biodiversity Genomics
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...
in Canada. It consists of four main modules, a data portal, an educational portal, a registry of BINs (putative species), and a data collection and analysis workbench which provides an online platform for analyzing
DNA sequences
A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases signified by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. By convention, sequences are us ...
.
Since its launch in 2005, BOLD has been extended to provide a range of functionality including data organization, validation, visualization and publication. The most recent version of the system, version 4, launched in 2017, brings a set of improvements supporting data collection and analysis but also includes novel functionality improving data dissemination, citation, and annotation.
Before November 16, 2020, BOLD already contained barcode sequences for 318,105 formally described species covering animals, plants, fungi, protists (with ~8.9 million specimens).
BOLD is freely available to any researcher with interests in
DNA Barcoding
DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indi ...
. By providing specialized services, it aids in the publication of records that meet the standards needed to gain
BARCODE
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...
designation in the international nucleotide sequence databases. Because of its web-based delivery and flexible data security model, it is also well positioned to support projects that involve broad research alliances.
Data release of BOLD mainly originated from a project BARCODE 500K
executed by the International Barcode of Life (iBOL) Consortium from 2010 to 2015. It aimed for data acquisition of DNA barcode records for 5M specimens representing 500K species. All the specimens collection, sequences assignment, information sorting are contributed by great amount of scientists, collaborators and facilities from nations over the world. Data accumulation increases the accuracy of DNA barcode identification and facilitates the attainment of barcoding of life.
References
External links
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{{Bioinformatics
Biological databases