{"doi":"10.1093/database/baaf060","title":"The Microbe Directory: a centralized database for biological interpretation of microbiome data","abstract":"The Microbe Directory (TMD) is a centralized database of metadata for microbes from all domains that helps with the biological interpretation of metagenomic data. The database comprises phenotypical and ecological traits of microorganisms, which have been verified by independent manual annotations. This effort has been possible by the help of a community of volunteer students worldwide who were trained in manual curation of microbiology data. To summarize this information, we have built an interactive browser that makes the database accessible to everyone, including non-bioinformaticians. We used the TMD data to analyse microbiome samples from different projects such as MetaSUB, TARA Oceans, Human Microbiome Project, and Sponge Microbiome Project, showcasing the utility of TMD. Furthermore, we compare our microbial annotations with annotations collected by artificial intelligence (AI) and demonstrate that despite the high speed of AI in reviewing and collecting microbial data, annotation requires domain knowledge and therefore manual curation. Collectively, TMD provides a unique source of information that can help to interpret microbiome data and uncover biological associations. Database URL: www.themicrobedirectory.com/.","journal":"Database","year":2025,"id":575843,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":0.0,"corpus_rank":10062,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":true,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9546,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":54.1667,"fair_percentile":68.66401712014674,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":550379,"name":"Krista Ryon","orcid":"0000-0001-9440-2729","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1418848,"name":"Mohith Reddy Arikatla","orcid":"0000-0002-7199-4570","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1484423,"name":"Radwa Elshafey","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1484424,"name":"Hardik Bhaskar","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1167343,"name":"Jacqueline Proszynski","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":550381,"name":"Chandrima Bhattacharya","orcid":"0000-0003-2991-8491","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":619419,"name":"Heba Shaaban","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":363450,"name":"David Danko","orcid":"0000-0002-1456-9498","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":584884,"name":"Pradeep M. Ambrose","orcid":null,"position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1484042,"name":"Sarah A. Spaulding","orcid":"0000-0002-9787-7743","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":617797,"name":"María Mercedes Zambrano","orcid":"0000-0002-0796-4473","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":36370,"name":"Christopher E. Mason","orcid":"0000-0002-1850-1642","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":318598,"name":"Maria A. Sierra","orcid":"0000-0003-4115-034X","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":61,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:57:52.712371Z","pmid":"40996703","pmcid":"PMC12462379","fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":50.0,"fair_a":62.5,"fair_i":20.0,"fair_r":50.0,"fair_zscore":0.7804,"fair_rationale":{"fair_score":54.17,"has_llm":true,"taxonomy_version":"fair_taxonomy_v5","dimensions":{"F":{"name":"Findable","score":50.0,"criteria":[{"key":"f_dataset_pid","label":"Persistent identifier for the data","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper gives a web address for the data, not a persistent identifier scheme (DOI, Handle, ARK, URN, or repository accession). 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[majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-F4-01M — FAIR Data Maturity Model: metadata is offered so it can be harvested and indexed (","NIH DMS Policy Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — name the repository where data will be archived","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Long-Term Sustainability', 'Reten"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"f_data_availability_statement","label":"Data-availability statement","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com . Raw data from The Microbe Directory domains can be found in GitHub, along with scripts to create main figures, curated lists of species, and Gemini data: https://github.com/mariaasierra/themicrobedirectory","grounded":true,"rationale":"The data availability statement points to a website and a GitHub repository, not to a repository record with an accession or DOI. 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[majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FORCE11 Joint Declaration of Data Citation Principles (2014) — data should be cited as a first-","RDA-F3-01M — metadata clearly and explicitly includes the identifier of the data it describes","FsF-F3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes the identifier of the data it describes'"],"scored":true,"signal":null}]},"A":{"name":"Accessible","score":62.5,"criteria":[{"key":"a_data_openly_accessible","label":"Access route free of preconditions","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com","grounded":true,"rationale":"The data availability statement gives a direct URL with no stated precondition. 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[majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FsF-A1-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata contains access level and access conditions of the data'","RDA-A1-01M — metadata contains information to enable the user to get access to the data","COAR Controlled Vocabularies — Access Rights v1.0 (open / embargoed / restricted / metadata-onl"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"a_controlled_access_for_sensitive","label":"Gatekeeper for sensitive data","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"The data are not sensitive human-subject data; no gatekeeper is named.","anchors":["NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy (NOT-OD-14-124) — controlled-access via a Data Access Committee","RDA-A1.2-01D — 'Data is accessible through an access protocol that supports authentication and ","NIH DMS Policy Element 5 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations (conse"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"a_timeline_retention","label":"Availability timing & retention","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No statement about when the data are available or how long they persist. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["NIH DMS Plan Element 4 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines","NSTC Desirable Characteristics (2022), Organizational Infrastructure: 'Retention Policy'","RDA-A2-01M — 'Metadata is guaranteed to remain available after data is no longer available'"],"scored":false,"signal":null}]},"I":{"name":"Interoperable","score":20.0,"criteria":[{"key":"i_open_nonproprietary_format","label":"Open file format","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"users can download the resulting subset as a CSV file.","grounded":false,"rationale":"CSV is an open, community-standard format. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["FsF-R1.3-02D — F-UJI: 'Data is available in a file format recommended by the target research co","RDA-R1.3-02D — data is expressed in a machine-understandable community standard","RDA-I1-01D — data uses a knowledge representation expressed in a standardised format"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"i_community_standard_vocabulary","label":"Community standard / vocabulary","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No data or metadata community standard (e.g., MIAME, ISA-Tab, ontology) is named for the dataset; only generic terms are used. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1.3-01M — 'Metadata complies with a community standard' (priority Essential)","RDA-R1.3-01D — 'Data complies with a community standard'","RDA-I2-01M — '(Meta)data use vocabularies that follow FAIR principles'"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"i_qualified_references","label":"Identifiers for the resources the data depend on","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":"Accession numbers for all samples can be found in Supplementary Table 2.","grounded":false,"rationale":"The paper references external datasets via accession numbers in a supplementary table. [downgraded to 'no' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-I3-01M — '(meta)data include references to other (meta)data'","RDA-I3-03M — 'metadata includes qualified references to other metadata'","FsF-I3-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes links between the data and its related entities'"],"scored":false,"signal":null}]},"R":{"name":"Reusable","score":50.0,"criteria":[{"key":"r_reuse_license","label":"Reuse licence","kind":"llm","weight":2.0,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No licence is named for the data; the CC BY licence applies to the article only, not the dataset.","anchors":["RDA-R1.1-01M — 'Metadata includes information about the licence under which the data can be reu","RDA-R1.1-02M — 'Metadata refers to a standard reuse licence'","RDA-R1.1-03M — 'Metadata refers to a machine-understandable reuse licence'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"r_provenance_methods","label":"Provenance of the data","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"volunteers submitted their microbial annotations in a customized survey in KoboToolBox","grounded":true,"rationale":"The paper names specific tools (KoboToolBox, custom scripts, Gemini AI) used to produce the data. [majority verdict 'yes' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1.2-01M — 'Metadata includes provenance information according to community- specific standa","FsF-R1.2-01M — F-UJI: 'Metadata includes provenance information about data creation or generati","W3C PROV-O (W3C Recommendation, 2013) — the entity/activity/agent model of provenance"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"r_documentation_codebook","label":"Documentation / codebook","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":0.5,"verdict":"partial","evidence":"The database provides information on 42 microbial features such as the type of genetic material in viruses and the type of Gram-staining for bacteria","grounded":true,"rationale":"Variable definitions are given inside the article text, not as a separate documentation object shipped with the data. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["RDA-R1-01M — '(Meta)data are richly described with a plurality of accurate and relevant attribu","FsF-R1-01MD — F-UJI: 'Metadata specifies the content of the data'","NIH DMS Policy Element 3 (NOT-OD-21-014) — Standards (documentation and metadata to accompany t"],"scored":false,"signal":null},{"key":"r_versioning","label":"Snapshot identified","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":0.0,"verdict":"no","evidence":null,"grounded":false,"rationale":"No version token or date is given for the dataset; the data are referred to without a specific snapshot identifier.","anchors":["DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — the 'Version' property","RDA-R1.2-01M — provenance information (which version was used is provenance)","NSTC Desirable Characteristics of Data Repositories (2022) — 'Provenance', 'Retention Policy'"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"x_code_availability","label":"Analysis code available","kind":"llm","weight":1.0,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"https://github.com/mariaasierra/themicrobedirectory","grounded":true,"rationale":"A machine-resolvable code repository URL is given for the study's own scripts. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["NIH DMS Policy Element 2 (NOT-OD-21-014) — 'Related Tools, Software and/or Code'","FAIR4RS Principles v1.0 (Chue Hong et al., 2022; RDA/FORCE11/ReSA) — FAIR Principles for Resear","FORCE11 Software Citation Principles (Smith, Katz & Niemeyer, 2016, PeerJ CS 2:e86)"],"scored":true,"signal":null},{"key":"x_funding_attribution","label":"Funder and award number","kind":"llm","weight":0.5,"fraction":1.0,"verdict":"yes","evidence":"C.E.M. was supported by the National Institutes of Health (U01DA053941, U54AG089334, R01AI151059), NASA (80NSSC24K0728, 80NSSC24K1052), and the WorldQuant Foundation.","grounded":true,"rationale":"Award numbers are provided for each named funder. [majority verdict 'yes' (4/5 passes agreed)]","anchors":["DataCite Metadata Schema 4.6 — 'FundingReference' property (funderName, funderIdentifier, award","Crossref Funder Registry — canonical funder identifiers for funding metadata","RDA-F2-01M — rich metadata provided to allow discovery (funding is part of the descriptive reco"],"scored":true,"signal":null}]}},"actions":[{"key":"r_reuse_license","dimension":"R","label":"Reuse licence","action":"Attach a standard, machine-readable open licence to the deposit — CC0 or CC BY, which is what Horizon Europe and most funders expect — and print the licence identifier in the paper. 'Free to use' is not a licence: it grants nothing a reuser's institution can rely on.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No licence is named for the data; the CC BY licence applies to the article only, not the dataset.","gain":16.67,"priority":"essential","scored":true},{"key":"f_dataset_pid","dimension":"F","label":"Persistent identifier for the data","action":"Mint or cite a persistent identifier for the dataset — a repository DOI or an accession from a registered repository — and print it in the paper. A bare URL is not persistent: it is the single most common cause of a dead data link five years after publication. For genomics / sequencing data, deposit in GEO (GSE accession), SRA (SRP/SRR) or ENA/BioProject (PRJEB/PRJNA).","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com","why":"The paper gives a web address for the data, not a persistent identifier scheme (DOI, Handle, ARK, URN, or repository accession). [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":8.33,"priority":"essential","scored":true},{"key":"f_repository_named","dimension":"F","label":"Named repository","action":"Deposit the data in a repository registered in re3data/FAIRsharing (a domain repository such as GEO, SRA, dbGaP, PRIDE, or a generalist such as Zenodo, Dryad, Dataverse) and name it explicitly in the paper. A lab website is not an archive: it has no retention commitment and no accession. For genomics / sequencing data, deposit in GEO (GSE accession), SRA (SRP/SRR) or ENA/BioProject (PRJEB/PRJNA).","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com","why":"The named holder is a project website (www.themicrobedirectory.com) and GitHub, neither of which is a FAIRsharing/re3data listed data repository. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":8.33,"priority":"essential","scored":true},{"key":"f_dataset_cited","dimension":"F","label":"Dataset formally cited","action":"Cite the dataset in the reference list like a publication — creator, year, title, repository, DOI/accession — and cite it in-text where it is used. Only a reference- list entry is machine-readable to Crossref/DataCite, and only a citation lets the data earn credit. Cite the genomics / sequencing repository accession (e.g. from GEO (GSE accession), SRA (SRP/SRR) or ENA/BioProject (PRJEB/PRJNA)) in the reference list.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"Data from The Microbe Directory can be found in the database interface: www.themicrobedirectory.com","why":"The dataset identifier appears only in the body text (Data availability section), not as a reference-list entry. [majority verdict 'partial' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":4.17,"priority":"important","scored":true},{"key":"i_open_nonproprietary_format","dimension":"I","label":"Open file format","action":"Release the data in an open, community-standard format (CSV/TSV, JSON, HDF5, NetCDF, FASTQ, VCF, NIfTI…) instead of — or alongside — any proprietary or instrument-native format, and name the format in the paper. A dataset that needs a €2,000 licence to open is not reusable. Prefer open genomics / sequencing formats such as FASTQ, BAM or VCF.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"users can download the resulting subset as a CSV file.","why":"CSV is an open, community-standard format. [downgraded to 'partial' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'partial' (2/5 passes agreed)]","gain":4.17,"priority":"important","scored":true},{"key":"r_versioning","dimension":"R","label":"Snapshot identified","action":"Version the deposit and cite the exact version analysed (a version-specific DOI, or an accession with its version suffix). 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In genomics / sequencing, describe the data with MIAME, MINSEQE or MIxS.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No data or metadata community standard (e.g., MIAME, ISA-Tab, ontology) is named for the dataset; only generic terms are used. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"r_documentation_codebook","dimension":"R","label":"Documentation / codebook","action":"Ship a README and a data dictionary IN the deposit — every file, every variable, its units, its allowed values, its missing-value codes. It is the cheapest single thing that makes a dataset usable by someone who was not in the lab, and a table buried in the article does not travel with the data.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"partial","current":0.5,"evidence":"The database provides information on 42 microbial features such as the type of genetic material in viruses and the type of Gram-staining for bacteria","why":"Variable definitions are given inside the article text, not as a separate documentation object shipped with the data. [majority verdict 'partial' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"important","scored":false},{"key":"a_controlled_access_for_sensitive","dimension":"A","label":"Gatekeeper for sensitive data","action":"Route sensitive data through an institutional gatekeeper — deposit in a controlled- access repository (dbGaP, EGA) with a Data Access Committee and a published DUA — rather than through the corresponding author's inbox. An author-gated dataset dies with the author's email address, and 'on reasonable request' has been shown repeatedly not to yield data. For sensitive/human genomics / sequencing data, use a controlled-access repository such as dbGaP or EGA.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"The data are not sensitive human-subject data; no gatekeeper is named.","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false},{"key":"i_qualified_references","dimension":"I","label":"Identifiers for the resources the data depend on","action":"Cite by identifier every resource the data depend on — the source datasets' accessions, the reference build (GRCh38 / GCA_000001405.28), the cohort application number, the code DOI — and register those relations on the dataset record (IsDerivedFrom, IsSupplementTo). A name is not a link: it cannot be resolved, versioned, or followed by a machine.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":"Accession numbers for all samples can be found in Supplementary Table 2.","why":"The paper references external datasets via accession numbers in a supplementary table. [downgraded to 'no' — no verifiable quote from the paper] [majority verdict 'no' (3/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false},{"key":"a_timeline_retention","dimension":"A","label":"Availability timing & retention","action":"State when the data become available AND how long they will be retained — cite the repository's preservation policy. NIH DMS Element 4 asks for both; most papers give neither.","anchors":["yes","partial","no"],"verdict":"no","current":0.0,"evidence":null,"why":"No statement about when the data are available or how long they persist. [majority verdict 'no' (4/5 passes agreed)]","gain":0.0,"priority":"useful","scored":false}],"suggestions":["Attach a standard, machine-readable open licence to the deposit — CC0 or CC BY, which is what Horizon Europe and most funders expect — and print the licence identifier in the paper. 'Free to use' is not a licence: it grants nothing a reuser's institution can rely on.","Mint or cite a persistent identifier for the dataset — a repository DOI or an accession from a registered repository — and print it in the paper. A bare URL is not persistent: it is the single most common cause of a dead data link five years after publication. For genomics / sequencing data, deposit in GEO (GSE accession), SRA (SRP/SRR) or ENA/BioProject (PRJEB/PRJNA).","Deposit the data in a repository registered in re3data/FAIRsharing (a domain repository such as GEO, SRA, dbGaP, PRIDE, or a generalist such as Zenodo, Dryad, Dataverse) and name it explicitly in the paper. A lab website is not an archive: it has no retention commitment and no accession. For genomics / sequencing data, deposit in GEO (GSE accession), SRA (SRP/SRR) or ENA/BioProject (PRJEB/PRJNA).","Cite the dataset in the reference list like a publication — creator, year, title, repository, DOI/accession — and cite it in-text where it is used. Only a reference- list entry is machine-readable to Crossref/DataCite, and only a citation lets the data earn credit. Cite the genomics / sequencing repository accession (e.g. from GEO (GSE accession), SRA (SRP/SRR) or ENA/BioProject (PRJEB/PRJNA)) in the reference list.","Release the data in an open, community-standard format (CSV/TSV, JSON, HDF5, NetCDF, FASTQ, VCF, NIfTI…) instead of — or alongside — any proprietary or instrument-native format, and name the format in the paper. A dataset that needs a €2,000 licence to open is not reusable. Prefer open genomics / sequencing formats such as FASTQ, BAM or VCF."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash","agent_version":"fair_agent_v8","fulltext_source":"epmc_xml"},"fair_model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash","fair_agent_version":"fair_agent_v8","fair_fulltext_source":"epmc_xml","fair_has_llm":true,"fair_computed_at":"2026-07-20T13:51:40.155392Z","clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}