Taxonomic Affiliation of New Genomes Should Be Verified Using Average Nucleotide Identity and Multilocus Phylogenetic Analysis

Abstract

The average nucleotide identity (ANI) determines if two genomes belong to the same species. Using ANI, we detected mislabeled genomes and recommend verifying with ANI and multilocus phylogenetic analysis the species affiliations of the announced genomes. The slightly different results obtained with different ANI calculation software can potentially mislead taxonomic inferences.