Contamination detection

Misconception of Schizophyllum commune strain 20R-7-F01 origin from subseafloor sediments over 20 million years old

mycolabadmin

Researchers questioned whether a fungus found in ancient ocean sediments 2 km below the seafloor actually came from 20 million years ago or was modern contamination. By analyzing DNA repetitive sequences in different fungal populations, they discovered the strain was genetically almost identical to modern fungi from Asia, not ancient at all. The extreme conditions in the deep sediments would make it impossible for fungi to survive or exchange genes for millions of years, proving the fungus came from surface contamination during drilling rather than ancient times.

Contamination of fungal genomes of Onygenaceae (Phylum Ascomycota) in public databases: incidence, detection, and impact

mycolabadmin

Scientists found that many fungal genome sequences stored in public databases contain unwanted bacterial DNA that can interfere with research results. They developed a method to identify and remove this contamination using related high-quality fungal genomes as reference. After cleaning four contaminated genomes, the quality improved significantly and the contamination dropped from 5-12% to below 3%, demonstrating that careful screening is essential for reliable genetic research.

Research Topic: Contamination detection

Misconception of Schizophyllum commune strain 20R-7-F01 origin from subseafloor sediments over 20 million years old

Contamination of fungal genomes of Onygenaceae (Phylum Ascomycota) in public databases: incidence, detection, and impact