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| Barcoding of Life Data System | |
|---|---|
| Name | Barcoding of Life Data System |
| Abbreviation | BOLD |
| Established | 2005 |
| Type | Online repository |
| Headquarters | Guelph, Ontario |
| Owner | Centre for Biodiversity Genomics |
Barcoding of Life Data System
The Barcoding of Life Data System is an online repository and analytical platform for DNA barcode records that supports taxonomic research, biodiversity monitoring, conservation planning, and forensic identification. It integrates specimen metadata, sequence data, images, and georeferenced records to enable cross-referencing among institutions, projects, and regulatory agencies. The platform links molecular vouchers with museum collections, field surveys, and ecological databases to facilitate specimen-based science.
BOLD assembles DNA barcode sequences primarily from the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I marker and other standardized loci, integrating specimens retained in institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, London, American Museum of Natural History, Canadian Museum of Nature, and Royal Ontario Museum. It interoperates with global initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Consortium for the Barcode of Life, International Barcode of Life Project, Encyclopedia of Life, and GenBank. Contributors include university departments like University of Guelph, University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, and research centres including the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The platform emerged in the early 2000s alongside molecular initiatives led by figures associated with the Consortium for the Barcode of Life and institutions including the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding and the National Research Council Canada. Early collaborations involved repositories such as Museum Victoria, Australian National University, Max Planck Society, Karolinska Institutet, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and agencies like the United States Geological Survey and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Key developments paralleled projects funded by bodies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, European Research Council, National Science Foundation, and charitable foundations like the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
BOLD stores specimen records with fields connecting to institutional catalogues such as Smithsonian Institution Collections, Natural History Museum (Tring) Collection, Field Museum of Natural History holdings, and herbarium databases including Kew Herbarium Catalogue. Data types include sequence reads, consensus sequences, specimen photographs, collection locality linked to gazetteers like Geonames, georeferenced coordinates, and metadata for taxon names referenced against authorities including International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The system integrates taxonomic backbones used by projects at GBIF Secretariat and exchanges sequence accession mappings with GenBank and European Nucleotide Archive.
BOLD implements Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) to cluster sequence variation, enabling operational taxonomic units comparable to species hypotheses referenced in taxonomic revisions by institutions such as Natural History Museum, London and Smithsonian Institution. BIN assignments aid researchers at universities like University of Copenhagen, University of São Paulo, University of Tokyo, and research institutes such as Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. BINs support comparative studies involving collections from Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Royal Ontario Museum, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Spain), and regional museums participating in multilaboratory taxonomic syntheses.
Submission workflows require voucher linkage to collections administered by institutions including Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Field Museum, Natural History Museum, London, Canterbury Museum, and university herbaria. Quality control protocols reference standards promulgated by the Consortium for the Barcode of Life and utilize laboratory best practices taught in courses at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and University of Toronto. Data curation involves curators and technicians from museums such as Canadian Museum of Nature and Australian Museum alongside bioinformatics groups at European Bioinformatics Institute and National Center for Biotechnology Information.
BOLD underpins applications in biodiversity inventorying conducted by teams from World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and governmental agencies like Environment and Climate Change Canada and United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It supports ecological studies published by researchers at Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and University of California, Davis. Forensic uses involve collaborations with law enforcement and customs authorities, and regulatory contexts including seafood authentication used by organizations such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Food and Agriculture Organization. Conservation planning integrates BOLD-derived data with spatial analyses from World Resources Institute and IUCN assessments.
Governance and operational management link to the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and collaborative networks involving academic partners like University of Guelph, University of Oxford, Harvard University, and national collections including the Canadian Museum of Nature and Smithsonian Institution. Funding streams historically involve agencies and foundations such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, National Science Foundation, European Commission, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and philanthropic donors associated with institutions like Royal Ontario Museum and Kew Gardens. Major collaborative projects have included multinational consortia such as the International Barcode of Life Project and partnerships with data aggregators like Global Biodiversity Information Facility, GenBank, and Encyclopedia of Life.
Category:Biodiversity databases