# how reliable are my taxonomic classifications if I did not identify species?

**URL:** https://forum.qiime2.org/t/how-reliable-are-my-taxonomic-classifications-if-i-did-not-identify-species/17696
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [December 5, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/how-reliable-are-my-taxonomic-classifications-if-i-did-not-identify-species/17696 "2020-12-05T00:57:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
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### Author: ![Nicholas\_Bokulich](https://forum.qiime2.org/user_avatar/forum.qiime2.org/nicholas_bokulich/32/19937_2.png) [@Nicholas\_Bokulich](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/Nicholas_Bokulich)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/how-reliable-are-my-taxonomic-classifications-if-i-did-not-identify-species/17696/8 "2020-12-12T17:55:05Z")

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> [@Nisha](#):
>
> I have reduced my analysis till genus level…but here also I have found a lot of OTUs whose genera are unavailable.

This is really a common issue with 16S rRNA gene sequences, I must say.

> [@Nisha](#):
>
> These are one among most prevalent and most abundant genera.

I recommend reading the forum archives more to see how others have dealt with this issue (usually, by doing nothing, just accepting that short 16S reads have limited taxonomic resolution). The FAQs are a great start for various taxonomy-related topics:

> [@Frequent Questions and "Best of the QIIME 2 Forum"](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/frequent-questions-and-best-of-the-qiime-2-forum/13608):
>
> The following is a list of frequently asked questions on the forum, with answers, to serve as a point of reference for forum users to quickly find answers, or for forum users and moderators to use as a reference when helping others. Note: some of these listings are collapsed lists. If you see an arrow next to a title, click the title to expand the list of topic titles related to that subject. arrow_forwardFAQs [What is a "Feature" exactly? - #3 by Nicholas\_Bokulich](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/what-is-a-feature-exactly/2201/3)[MemoryError with q2-f…](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/feature-classifiers-error/11946/2)

Good luck!

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