AnimalAssociatedMetagenomeDB

AnimalAssociatedMetagenomeDB aggregates standardized, manually curated metadata for 10,885 non-human animal-associated metagenomes from SRA and MG-RAST to support comparative analyses of animal-associated microbial communities.

Key Features:

• Standardized metadata: Includes 51 manually curated metadata attributes covering host species, biological compartment, geographic coordinates, and country of origin.
• Repository coverage: Consolidates 10,885 metagenomes sourced from public repositories SRA (Sequence Read Archive) and MG-RAST.
• Biogeographical summary: Reports geographic distribution statistics, including an over-representation of temperate-region samples (89.2%) and only 11 samples from polar zones.
• Species annotation and taxonomic classification: Annotates common and scientific species names and classifies metagenomes as originating from vertebrates or invertebrates, noting prevalence of the genus Trichocerca among invertebrates.
• Host contextualization: Categorizes host context such as medical research, livestock, pets, and wild species, with 51.1% of metagenomes from animals linked to medical research or agriculture (e.g., mice, rats, cattle, pigs, poultry).

Scientific Applications:

• Meta-analysis of animal-associated microbiomes: Enables cross-study comparative analyses using standardized metadata across thousands of metagenomes.
• Host-specificity and strain-heterogeneity studies: Supports testing hypotheses about host specificity and strain heterogeneity in animal-associated microbial communities.
• Biogeography and biodiversity analyses: Facilitates investigation of geographic patterns and biodiversity of animal-associated microbiomes, including temperate versus polar representation.
• Experimental host selection: Informs selection of host species for new metagenomic studies based on curated metadata and contextual categories.

Methodology:

Metadata were retrieved from SRA and MG-RAST and then manually curated and standardized into 51 metadata attributes.