Such changes could have serious consequences in the activities of ECCO member collections and in their role in biodiversity preservation and distribution for life science researchers. While the current Code requires deposit of a designated type-strain in culture collections in two different countries for valid publication of a species or sub-species, the proposal would allow the use of complete or partial genome sequences as type. This, according to ECCO Executive Board, will take away the firm basis of the system: the type-strains, the biological specimens that allow for a polyphasic approach in characterizing species including DNA-based analyses as well as phenotypic traits.
In their letter, the members of the ECCO Executive Board highlights all negative consequences of the proposed changes. See the letter of the ECCO Executive Board.