Overview on our ARB/SILVA-related Projects
'The All-Species Living Tree' Project
The All-Species Living Tree is a regularly-updated 16S rRNA-based phylogenetic tree harboring all sequenced type strains of the hitherto classified species of Archaea and Bacteria.
The project was launched in early 2008 and the current tree plus the corresponding sequence databases, released October 2008, are available for download.
More Information, Manuscript and Downloads ...
A Standard Operating Procedure for Phylogenetic Inference (SOPPI)
A Standard Operating Procedure offering a helping hand in working through the process of contextual data acquisition, alignment, phylogenetic tree reconstruction, presentation of trees and documentation.
Contextual Data (Metadata) for Environmental Sequences
Contextual data (metadata) is the set of data describing aspects like geographic location and habitat type from which a sequence was retrieved as well as the processing of the sample.
Following the 
MIGS/MIMS standards for environmental samples at least providing the GPS position (longitude, latitude), depth/altitude and time of sampling is highly recommended.
The SILVA team together with the Genomics Standards Consortium has started a project to facilitate and improve the integration of contextual data for environmental sequences with an emphasis on ribosomal RNA sequence data.
International Workshop on ribosomal RNA Technology, 2008
On April 7- 9, 2008 in Bremen, Germany, in five sessions, 26 leading international speakers and about 120 participants representing diverse disciplines discussed and summarized the current status of the rRNA-based technologies.
Thirty years have passed since Carl Woese proposed three primary domains of life based on the phylogenetic analysis of the ribosomal RNA genes. It was now the time to strategize on the best ways of proceeding on both biological and technological fronts ...