Validation of mtDNA control-region sequences in GenBank for large baleen whales

Abstract

The phylogenetic methods in DNA Surveillance, in conjunction with the curated reference sequence alignments known as Witness for the Whales, were used to assign species identities to the 922 sequences from baleen whales published in Genbank prior to 2007. Of these, 42 sequences were identified as belonging to a different species, and 44 to a different subspecies, from that recorded in Genbank. Fourteen blue whale sequences could not be assigned to a subspecies. A species identity could not be assigned unambiguously to seven sequences. A small number of sequences had evidence of poor or unreliable quality, but in each case the species identity as recorded in Genbank was confirmed here. Taxonomic revision is probably the greatest source of disagreement in the identities given by Genbank and DNA Surveillance. To provide better validation of sample origin, all major geographic regions need to be represented for each species in the reference data sets