Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

Active BINs are updated monthly using all COI sequences on BOLD, both public and private. Data on BOLD is private by default. Project managers must update settings to make projects or datasets public.

See the Handbook for instructions:
bit.ly/4d3GOeZ

📈 Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD

Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the latest operational taxonomic units.

The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database after the September update is now 1,339,498!

The work was made possible with financial support from a Major Science Infrastructure award (@innovation.ca) and the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund #NFRF (Canadian Institutes of Health Research #CIHR_IRSC, #NSERC, @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca).

Citation: Padhye S, Ballesteros-Mejia L, Ratnasingham S (2025). BOLDconnectR: Retrieve, Transform and Analyze the Barcode of Life Data Systems Data. R package version 1.0.0.

BOLDconnectR: Retrieve, Transform and Analyze the Barcode of Life Data Systems Data Facilitates retrieval, transformation and analysis of the data from the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) database <<a href="https://boldsystems.org/" target="_top">https://boldsystems.org/</a>>.…

The CRAN documentation is up to date and we invite you to explore what BOLDconnectR can do for your workflow: cran.r-project.org/web/packages...

Do you use R and the Barcode of Life Data (BOLD) Systems?

🎉 BOLDconnectR is now on CRAN!

BOLDconnectR makes it easy to retrieve, transform, and analyze BOLD data—all in the Barcode Core Data Model (BCDM) format.

#RStats #OpenSource #DNAbarcoding #ResearchInnovation

At BOLD, we believe in keeping our community informed and engaged through transparent, timely, and effective communication. Stay connected on the FAQ's, latest developments and community initiatives by following us on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

If you do not have a BOLD account, register for one or contact our support staff to contact the record owner.

Connect with our team for support on anything related to BOLD
📩 support@boldsystems.org

💬 BOLD FAQ's

Did you know?

You don’t always have to start at boldsystems.org. Go straight to your favourite BOLD5 tools using these links:

ID Engine → id.boldsystems.org
Public Data Portal → portal.boldsystems.org

Bookmark them today for quicker access!

#DNAbarcoding #Biodiversity

At BOLD, we believe in keeping our community informed and engaged through transparent, timely, and effective communication. Stay connected on the FAQ's, latest developments and community initiatives by following us on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Connect with our team for support on anything related to BOLD
📩 support@boldsystems.org

💬 BOLD FAQ's

Did you know?

Verbatim fields store data exactly as entered by the user. On BOLD, key fields with controlled vocabularies also have verbatim versions. These fields help expedite record activation, so you can move forward with your submission—adding images and sequences sooner.

An edited recording from an online workshop covering details of the BOLDv5 data submission process led by BOLD's Director, Informatics – Internal Operations, Dr. Terri Porter. BOLDv5 includes a new… BOLDv5 workshop recording: Data submission

We're excited to share the recording of our Data Submission Workshop by Dr. Terri Porter, BOLD's Director of Informatics – Internal Operations. In this session, we introduce the updated BOLDv5 data submission process, which improves turnaround times and data validation. 🎥

High-resolution arthropod specimen with inset map of collection site in the bottom left corner, scale bar in the bottom right corner, and funder logo in the top right corner.

Our DNA library is made possible thanks to the support of our funding partners.

Today’s featured specimen is a damselfly from the Coenagrionidae family, collected in Free State, South Africa. This record was made possible through funding from the New Frontiers in Research Foundation.

At BOLD, we believe in keeping our community informed and engaged through transparent, timely, and effective communication. Stay connected on the FAQ's, latest developments and community initiatives by following us on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Connect with our team for support on anything related to BOLD
📩 support@boldsystems.org

💬 BOLD FAQ's

Did you know?

BIN assignments are based on sequence divergence and updated monthly.

New BINs are only created from COI-5P sequences with at least 500 valid residues in the barcode region and fewer than 1% ambiguous bases.

Hi Neal, are you interested in knowing the unassigned BINs in the world? While there are no reliable estimates for the total number of species on Earth, it’s likely in the tens of millions! We have DNA sequences for about 1.3 million species in BOLD. You can explore them here: portal.boldsystems.org

ERGA - European Reference Genome Atlas (@ergabiodiv.bsky.social) We are a biodiversity genomics community to generate reference quality genomes for all European species. #Genomes for #Biodiversity https://www.erga-biodiversity.eu/ | https://linktr.ee/erga_biodivers...

ERGA at #ESEB2025🧬

@ergabiodiv.bsky.social participated in the Congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology. This conference was a great opportunity for ERGA members to gather in person, exchange ideas, and connect!

🔗 biodiversitygenomics.eu/2025/09/08/e...

@horizoneu.bsky.social

High-resolution arthropod specimen with inset map of collection site in the bottom left corner, scale bar in the bottom right corner, and funder logo in the top right corner.

Our DNA library is made possible thanks to the support of our funding partners.

Today’s featured specimen is a moth from the Geometridae family, collected in Pahang, Malaysia. This record was made possible through the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

💬 Have you recently published research using BOLD?

Contact us for a chance to be featured on our social channels: 📩 media@biodiversitygenomics.net

Workbench – BOLD Manage, analyze, and publish your DNA barcode data with BOLD’s secure and powerful Workbench.

Anyone can submit records to BOLD via the workbench, and continue building a comprehensive reference database to support DNA-based species identification: boldsystems.org/workbench/

The study revealed 15 threatened species according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Additionally, four species were unexpectedly detected for the first time in this geographical area, including: Boleophthamus dussumieri, Hippocampus kelloggi, Lethrinus miniatus and Maculabatis gerrardi.

A study by Muhala et al. (2024) utilized DNA barcoding to identify the composition of the fish fauna from the coast of Mozambique.

Photo: 📸 Hippocampus kelloggi: BOLD:AAF0667 (copyright Sara A. Lourie)

Access the full article: 🔗 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

CBG Joins the Buzz: Celebrating Insects at Guelph Bug Day – Centre for Biodiversity Genomics Please accept cookies to access this…

CBG joined the buzz at Guelph Bug Day, an annual celebration of all things insect- and arachnid-related.

Read the article 🔗 bit.ly/bugday2025

@uofgcbs.bsky.social @integrativebiology.bsky.social

#ScienceForAll #Outreach #GuelphBugDay2025

📚 Back-to-school season is here! While students and teachers are stocking up on school supplies, we’re also taking stock—of our collections!

Here are some of our latest Collection Metrics that show just how much biodiversity inventory we’ve been accumulating! 🐞🌿

A bar graph showing steady growth of BINs added by month from September 2024 to August 25.

A bar graph showing new BINs by Country captured for the month of August 2025. It shows the top 9 countries where new BINs came from, with Costa Rica being the highest.

So far in 2025, we’ve seen steady growth in BIN records, reflecting the continuous expansion of the global species inventory. August’s update highlights international collaboration in DNA-based biodiversity research, with the largest number of new BINs this month contributed from Costa Rica.

Follow us for monthly BIN updates as the BOLD DNA reference library continues to grow.

#BOLD #Species #Biodiversity #DNABarcoding #Bioinformatics #Nature #Technology #Database #BINUpdate #Taxonomy

Active BINs are updated monthly using all COI sequences on BOLD, both public and private. Data on BOLD is private by default. Project managers must update settings to make projects or datasets public. See the Handbook for instructions: 🔗 bit.ly/4d3GOeZ

📈Monthly growth of Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD

Every month, as new species and sequences are added to the BOLD database, BINs are updated to reflect the latest operational taxonomic units.

The total number of active BINs in the BOLD database after the August update is now 1,326,560!