16S rRNA gene sequences have been widely used for the identification of prokaryotes. However,
the flood of sequences of non-type strains and the lack of a peer-reviewed database for 16S
rRNA gene sequences of type strains have made routine identification of isolates difficult and
labour-intensive. In the present study, we generated a database containing 16S rRNA gene
sequences of all prokaryotic type strains. In addition, a web-based tool, named EzTaxon, for
analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences was constructed to achieve identification of isolates based
on pairwise nucleotide similarity values and phylogenetic inference methods. The system
developed provides users with a similarity-based search, multiple sequence alignment and various
phylogenetic analyses. All of these functions together with the 16S rRNA gene sequence
database of type strains can be successfully used for automated and reliable identification of
prokaryotic isolates. The EzTaxon server is freely accessible over the Internet at
http://www.eztaxon.org