ITS so much more

Abstract

A recent article [1] in this journal discusses the connections between the fields of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) secondary structure, ribogenesis, and phylogenetics, unfortunately omitting important recent advances in computational biology. rRNA ITS sequences are extensively used to assess phylogenetic relationships. However, many hurdles had to be overcome before this approach yielded accurate results. Because ITS2 has a common core of secondary structure throughout the Eukaryota [2], in several studies ITS2 secondary structures of ribosomal genes have been used to improve the quality of phylogenetic reconstructions.