Genome Taxonomy Database

Genome Taxonomy Database
Content
Data types
captured
Proposed prokaryotic nomenclature, phylogenomic data
Contact
Research centerAustralian Centre for Ecogenomics, University of Queensland
Authors
  • Phil Hugenholtz
  • Maria Chuvochina
  • Christian Rinke
Primary citationPMID 30148503
Release date2018
Access
Websitegtdb.ecogenomic.org
Download URLgtdb.ecogenomic.org/downloads
Web service URLgtdb.ecogenomic.org/tree
Miscellaneous
LicenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Version09-RS220 (24th April 2024)
Curation policymixed

The Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) is an online database that maintains information on a proposed nomenclature of prokaryotes, following a phylogenomic approach based on a set of conserved single-copy proteins. In addition to resolving paraphyletic groups, this method also reassigns taxonomic ranks algorithmically, updating names in both cases. Information for archaea was added in 2020, along with a species classification based on average nucleotide identity. Each update incorporates new genomes as well as automated and manual curation of the taxonomy.

An open-source tool called GTDB-Tk is available to classify draft genomes into the GTDB hierarchy. The GTDB system, via GTDB-Tk, has been used to catalogue not-yet-named bacteria in the human gut microbiome and other metagenomic sources.

The GTDB is incorporated into the Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria in 2019 as its phylogenomic resource.