QBOL is generating barcode sequences for quarantine species and closely related species (look alikes). These barcode sequences will be collected in central and public databases. As a first step QBOL has recently established prioritized lists of the quarantine organisms of arthropods, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, phytoplasmas and viruses. These taxon sampling lists – Q-lists – are now available as PDF-documents on www.qbol.org.
The quarantine organisms on the available lists are relevant for the EU; the lists also contain closely related species (look alikes). The lists have been drawn up on the basis of the economic value of these Q-organisms and their availability.
The quarantine lists are not complete, the QBOL consortium is therefore looking for more specimens of quarantine organisms and related species. More isolates are needed to boost the number of strains and species in the future databases. Therefore the QBOL consortium encourages submission of specimens for barcode data from all over the world.
QBOL is a project financed by the 7th Framework Program of the European Union that makes collections harboring plantpathogenic quarantine organisms available. Plant Research International coordinates the project.