Biomedical subjects

Peter M Hollingsworth

Publications and source records attributed to Peter M Hollingsworth.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Plant species identification by genome skimming across the vascular plant tree of life.

Accurate species identification is essential for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, yet standard plant DNA barcoding often fails to achieve species-level resolution. We present a large-scale empirical evaluation of genome skimming as a tool to improve plant species discrimination. Using standardised data from 1969 individuals representing 475 species from 32 genera across major lineages of the vascular plant tree of life, we compare conventional plastid + internal transcribed spacer (ITS) barcodes with genome skimming approaches. Standard barcoding using rbcL, matK, trnH-psbA and ITS resolved about half of species (49.3%), with six genera showing < 25% species discrimination. By contrast, genome skimming enabled the recovery of complete plastid genomes, yielding 57.6% species discrimination. It also generated sufficient nuclear genomic data for additional resolution from k-mer analysis, achieving 66.8% species discrimination - an average gain of 17.5% over standard barcodes - while eliminating cases of extreme failure (< 25% resolution). The recovery of complete plastomes and ribosomal DNAs from genome skims also ensures backward compatibility with existing barcode datasets. Our results demonstrate that genome skimming provides data that substantially improves species-level resolution across diverse plant lineages and offers a scalable, high-throughput approach for building comprehensive reference resources to support global biodiversity initiatives.

DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic↗

PubMed2026

The genome sequence of Frangula alnus Mill., 1768 (Rosales: Rhamnaceae).

We present a genome assembly of Frangula alnus (alder buckthorn; Streptophyta; Magnoliopsida; Rosales; Rhamnaceae). The assembly consists of two haplotypes with total lengths of 279.06 megabases and 281.25 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (99.91%) is scaffolded into 10 chromosomal pseudomolecules. Most of haplotype 2 (99.91%) is scaffolded into 10 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial sequence has a length of 492.03 kilobases and the plastid genome assembly has a length of 161.23 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

Frangula alnus↗

PubMed2026

The genome sequence of Quercus petraea Liebl., 1784 (Fagales: Fagaceae).

We present a genome assembly of Quercus petraea (sessile oak; Streptophyta; Magnoliopsida; Fagales; Fagaceae). The assembly consists of two haplotypes with total lengths of 823.57 megabases and 815.09 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (99.41%) is scaffolded into 12 chromosomal pseudomolecules. Haplotype 2 was assembled to scaffold level. The mitochondrial sequence has a length of 349.29 kilobases and the plastid genome assembly has a length of 161.18 kilobases. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 32 253 protein-coding genes. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

Fagales↗

PubMed2026

The genome sequence of Prunus padus L., 1753 (Rosales: Rosaceae).

We present a genome assembly of Prunus padus (bird cherry; Streptophyta; Magnoliopsida; Rosales; Rosaceae). The genome sequence has a total length of 454.49 megabases. Most of the assembly (97.36%) is scaffolded into 16 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial sequences have lengths of 280.28 and 155.92 kilobases and the plastid genome assembly has a length of 158.96 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

Prunus padus↗

PubMed2026

Species identification, discovery, and biomonitoring: Strategic priorities for DNA barcoding in Europe, set in a global context.

The International Barcode of Life (iBOL) initiative is building a globally accessible DNA-based system for species identification and discovery. This paper outlines the mission and strategic priorities for the iBOL community in Europe (iBOL Europe), set in a global context. The mission of iBOL Europe is to produce, curate, and provide access to a complete DNA barcode reference library of European eukaryotic biodiversity, catalyzing species discovery and enabling comprehensive, harmonized species identification and biomonitoring, and supporting the global iBOL program. Immediate objectives include completing reference libraries for priority taxa, democratizing access to sequencing technologies, and strengthening a distributed community of practice. Key actions identified span five thematic areas: community building, sample collection and taxonomic verification, sequencing infrastructure, data management, and mainstreaming DNA-based approaches to meet societal needs. The strategy emphasizes integration with European research infrastructures to ensure long-term sustainability and resilience for biodiversity genomics in Europe.

DNA barcoding↗

PubMed2025

The Role of Community Science in DNA-Based Biodiversity Monitoring.

The mutual interest in nature by the general public and scientists has led to many collaborations, past and present. Community science shows great potential for monitoring species occurrences and distributions, especially in combination with scalable and (semi)-automated methods such as DNA-based monitoring, helping to obtain data from a broader geographic and temporal range than would be possible by the scientific community alone. Here, we present an overview of the complementarity between community science and DNA-based biomonitoring through examples from ongoing projects. The involvement of hobby experts is particularly crucial for building up the necessary species reference databases that enable DNA-based monitoring. Based on this overview, we identify some key points related to learning opportunities and participant recognition to maximise the success, impact and benefit of community participants in DNA-based monitoring.

Biodiversity↗

PubMed2005

Conserving taxonomic complexity.

Traditional species-based conservation programmes are appropriate in situations where species are readily identifiable. However, in certain taxonomically complex groups of organisms, generally characterized by the presence of uniparental lineages and reticulate evolution, it is not possible to classify biodiversity into discrete and unambiguous species. Attempts to impose species-based conservation on such taxonomically complex groups are proving untenable, and threaten to divert scarce resources and taxonomic expertise from the conservation of other priority groups. We argue here that a new approach should be adopted for taxonomically complex groups. We advocate the conservation of evolutionary processes that generate taxonomic biodiversity, rather than the preservation of a limited number of poorly defined taxa arising from this evolution.

Journal Article↗