Genome profiling (GP) as an effective tool for monitoring culture collections: A case study with Trichosporon

Species identification and classification of a large number of microbes are essential and heavy workloads in culture collections and relevant laboratories. The identification of species usually requires different methods depending on species. Therefore, the development of a method which is simple and applicable to any organisms will lessen the burdens, increase the reliability of databases and thus enhance the science on microbes. The genome profiling (GP) method, developed previously, was found effective in monitoring authenticities of all strains/species tested in culture collections and expectedly various species, which was shown by applying the GP and the conventional sequencing methods to identifying and classifying species/strains belonging to the genus Trichosporon (38 strains; 16 species). Small differences between strains (11 strains of Trichosporon asahii and 4 strains of Trichosporon coremiiforme) can be reliably discriminated by GP, which was unsuccessful in the conventional sequencing approach. Importantly, seven possible false-assignments contained in the database were all pointed out by the GP method with near-perfect correctness, showing the power of the GP method.GP was shown to be a potent tool for rapidly and correctly monitoring species and strains of fungi in culture collections owing to its simple and informative natures.

► False labeling contained in a Trichosporon culture collection was revealed simply by the GP method.
► Classification of Trichosporon species/strains could be readily performed based on the GP results.
► The GP approach was estimated to be more cost-effective and time-saving than the sequencing one.