soil

Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain. Microbes can be a range of producers (e.g. chemolithotroph)

Description of relationship(s) between the subject organism and other organism(s) it is associated with. E.g., parasite on species X; mutualist with species Y. The target organism is the subject of the relationship, and the other organism(s) is the object.

To what is the entity pathogenic, for instance plant, fungi, bacteria

Is this organism an aerobe, anaerobe? Please note that aerobic and anaerobic are valid descriptors for microbial environments

The type of reproduction from the parent stock. Values for this field is specific to different taxa. For phage or virus: lytic/lysogenic/temperate/obligately lytic. For plasmids: incompatibility group. For eukaryotes: sexual/asexual. Mandatory for MIGs of eukayotes, plasmids and viruses.

The device used to collect an environmental sample. It is recommended to use terms listed under environmental sampling device (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO) and/or terms listed under specimen collection device (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GENEPIO_0002094).

The method employed for collecting the sample. Can be provided in the form of a PMID, DOI, url or text.

Conditions at which sample was stored, usually storage temperature, duration and location. In soil context: Explain how and for how long the soil sample was stored before DNA extraction (fresh/frozen/other).

soil classification from the FAO World Reference Database for Soil Resources

soil classification based on local soil classification system

reference or method used in determining the local soil classification

Description of the soil type or classification. This field accepts terms under soil (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00001998). Multiple terms can be separated by pipes.

reference or method used in determining soil series name or other lower-level classification

the relative proportion of different grain sizes of mineral particles in a soil, as described using a standard system; express as % sand (50 um to 2 mm), silt (2 um to 50 um), and clay (<2 um) with textural name (e.g., silty clay loam) optional.

reference or method used in determining soil texture

the part of the organic matter in the soil that constitutes living microorganisms smaller than 5-10 µm. IF you keep this, you would need to have correction factors used for conversion to the final units, which should be mg C (or N)/kg soil).

Name of the project within which the sequencing was organized

The ploidy level of the genome (e.g. allopolyploid, haploid, diploid, triploid, tetraploid). It has implications for the downstream study of duplicated gene and regions of the genomes (and perhaps for difficulties in assembly). For terms, please select terms listed under class ploidy (PATO:001374) of Phenotypic Quality Ontology (PATO), and for a browser of PATO (v 2018-03-27) please refer to http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/PATO

Reports the number of replicons in a nuclear genome of eukaryotes, in the genome of a bacterium or archaea or the number of segments in a segmented virus. Always applied to the haploid chromosome count of a eukaryote. Mandatory for MIGS of eukaryotes, bacteria, archaea and segmented virus.

Do plasmids exist of significant phenotypic consequence (e.g. ones that determine virulence or antibiotic resistance). Megaplasmids? Other plasmids (borrelia has 15+ plasmids).

The estimated size of the genome (in bp) prior to sequencing. Of particular importance in the sequencing of (eukaryotic) genome which could remain in draft form for a long or unspecified period. Mandatory for MIGS of eukaryotes.

Targeted gene or locus name for marker gene studies

Name of subfragment of a gene or locus. Important to e.g. identify special regions on marker genes like V6 on 16S rRNA

Molecular barcodes, called Multiplex Identifiers (MIDs), that are used to specifically tag unique samples in a sequencing run. Sequence should be reported in uppercase letters

Indicate if the sequence has been called by automatic systems (none) or undergone a manual editing procedure (e.g. by inspecting the raw data or chromatograms). Applied only for sequences that are not submitted to SRA or DRA

Tool(s) used for chimera checking, including version number and parameters, to discover and remove chimeric sequences. A chimeric sequence is comprised of two or more phylogenetically distinct parent sequences.

A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise associated to the sequence in the format of a PMID, DOI or URL

Standard operating procedures used in assembly and/or annotation of genomes, metagenomes or environmental sequences in the format of a PMID, DOI or URL

The date the sample was collected with the intention of sequencing, either as an instance (single point in time) or interval. In case no exact time is available, the date/time can be right truncated i.e. all of these are valid ISO8601 compliant times: 2008-01-23T19:23:10+00:00; 2008-01-23T19:23:10; 2008-01-23; 2008-01; 2008.

The altitude of the sample is the vertical distance between Earth's surface above Sea Level and the sampled position in the air.

The geographical origin of the sample as defined by latitude. The values should be reported in decimal degrees and in WGS84 system

The geographical origin of the sample as defined by longitude. The values should be reported in decimal degrees and in WGS84 system

The geographical origin of the sample as defined by the specific region name followed by the locality name.

Report the major environmental system the sample or specimen came from. The system(s) identified should have a coarse spatial grain, to provide the general environmental context of where the sampling was done (e.g. in the desert or a rainforest). We recommend using subclasses of EnvO’s biome class: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000428. EnvO documentation about how to use the field: https://github.com/EnvironmentOntology/envo/wiki/Using-ENVO-with-MIxS.

Report the entity or entities which are in the sample or specimen’s local vicinity and which you believe have significant causal influences on your sample or specimen. We recommend using EnvO terms which are of smaller spatial grain than your entry for "broad-scale environmental context". Terms, such as anatomical sites, from other OBO Library ontologies which interoperate with EnvO (e.g. UBERON) are accepted in this field. EnvO documentation about how to use the field: https://github.com/EnvironmentOntology/envo/wiki/Using-ENVO-with-MIxS.

Report the environmental material(s) immediately surrounding the sample or specimen at the time of sampling. We recommend using subclasses of 'environmental material' (http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00010483). EnvO documentation about how to use the field: https://github.com/EnvironmentOntology/envo/wiki/Using-ENVO-with-MIxS . Terms from other OBO ontologies are permissible as long as they reference mass/volume nouns (e.g. air, water, blood) and not discrete, countable entities (e.g. a tree, a leaf, a table top).

The elevation of the sampling site as measured by the vertical distance from mean sea level.

The total amount or size (volume (ml), mass (g) or area (m2) ) of sample collected.

Collection design of pooled samples and/or sieve size and amount of sample sieved

Reference or method used in determining microbial biomass

Reference or method used in determining the horizon

heavy metals present and concentrations of any drug used by subject and the frequency of usage; can include multiple heavy metals and concentrations

reference or method used in determining heavy metals

aluminum saturation (esp. for tropical soils)

reference or method used in determining Al saturation

The geographical origin of where the sample was collected from, with the intention of sequencing, as defined by the country or sea name. Country or sea names should be chosen from the INSDC country list (http://insdc.org/country.html).

list of diseases with which the host has been diagnosed; can include multiple diagnoses. The value of the field depends on host; for humans the terms should be chosen from DO (Disease Ontology) at http://www.disease-ontology.org, other hosts are free text

Scientific name of the natural (as opposed to laboratory) host to the organism from which sample was obtained.

link to climate resource

link to digitized soil maps or other soil classification information

link to additional analysis results performed on the sample

present state of sample site

vegetation classification from one or more standard classification systems, or agricultural crop

reference or method used in vegetation classification

specific layer in the land area which measures parallel to the soil surface and possesses physical characteristics which differ from the layers above and beneath

drainage classification from a standard system such as the USDA system

temperature of the sample at time of sampling

pH measurement

reference or method used in determining pH

Water content measurement e.g. soil water content of 13.6%

commonly called slope. The angle between ground surface and a horizontal line (in percent). This is the direction that overland water would flow. This measure is usually taken with a hand level meter or clinometer.

the direction a slope faces. While looking down a slope use a compass to record the direction you are facing (direction or degrees); e.g., NW or 315°. This measure provides an indication of sun and wind exposure that will influence soil temperature and evapotranspiration.

cross-sectional position in the hillslope where sample was collected.sample area position in relation to surrounding areas

reference or method used in determining the water content of soil

Reference or method used in determining total organic carbon

Reference or method used in determining the total nitrogen

concentration of organic matter

concentration of organic nitrogen

Definition for soil: total organic C content of the soil units of g C/kg soil. Definition otherwise: total organic carbon content

Total nitrogen content of the sample

reference or method used in determining salinity

A unique identifier assigned to a material sample (as defined by http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/materialSampleID, and as opposed to a particular digital record of a material sample) used for extracting nucleic acids, and subsequent sequencing. The identifier can refer either to the original material collected or to any derived sub-samples. The INSDC qualifiers /specimen_voucher, /bio_material, or /culture_collection may or may not share the same value as the source_mat_id field. For instance, the /specimen_voucher qualifier and source_mat_id may both contain 'UAM:Herps:14' , referring to both the specimen voucher and sampled tissue with the same identifier. However, the /culture_collection qualifier may refer to a value from an initial culture (e.g. ATCC:11775) while source_mat_id would refer to an identifier from some derived culture from which the nucleic acids were extracted (e.g. xatc123 or ark:/2154/R2).

previous land use and dates

Reference or method used in determining previous land use and dates

whether or not crop is rotated, and if yes, rotation schedule

addition of fertilizers, pesticides, etc. - amount and time of applications

note method(s) used for tilling

historical and/or physical evidence of fire

historical and/or physical evidence of flooding

unusual physical events that may have affected microbial populations

Mean seasonal temperature

The average of all seasonal precipitation values known, or an estimated equivalent value derived by such methods as regional indexes or Isohyetal maps.

The average of all annual precipitation values known, or an estimated equivalent value derived by such methods as regional indexes or Isohyetal maps.

Mean annual temperature

The range and diversity of host species that an organism is capable of infecting, defined by NCBI taxonomy identifier.

type of perturbation, e.g. chemical administration, physical disturbance, etc., coupled with time that perturbation occurred; can include multiple perturbation types

The substance or equipment used as a negative control in an investigation

The substance, mixture, product, or apparatus used to verify that a process which is part of an investigation delivers a true positive.

Experimental factors are essentially the variable aspects of an experiment design which can be used to describe an experiment, or set of experiments, in an increasingly detailed manner. This field accepts ontology terms from Experimental Factor Ontology (EFO) and/or Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI). For a browser of EFO (v 2.95) terms, please see http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/EFO; for a browser of OBI (v 2018-02-12) terms please see http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/OBI. E.g. time series design [EFO:EFO_0001779]

Should include key traits like antibiotic resistance or xenobiotic degradation phenotypes for plasmids, converting genes for phage

Information about the genetic distinctness of the sequenced organism below the subspecies level, e.g., serovar, serotype, biotype, ecotype, or any relevant genetic typing schemes like Group I plasmid. Subspecies should not be recorded in this term, but in the NCBI taxonomy. Supply both the lineage name and the lineage rank separated by a colon, e.g., biovar:abc123.

Method used for taxonomic classification, along with reference database used, classification rank, and thresholds used to classify new genomes. Expected values are: classification method, database name, and other parameters e.g. vConTACT vContact2 (references from NCBI RefSeq v83, genus rank classification, default parameters)

Publication reference in the form of pubmed ID (pmid), digital object identifier (doi) or url for isolation and growth condition specifications of the organism/material. Mandatory for MIGS and MIMARKS Specimen.

For cases where annotation was provided by a community jamboree or model organism database rather than by a specific submitter

Primary publication if isolated before genome publication; otherwise, primary genome report. Mandatory for MIGS of bacteria and archaea.

Physical combination of several instances of like material, e.g. RNA extracted from samples or dishes of cell cultures into one big aliquot of cells. Please provide a short description of the samples that were pooled.

A brief description of any processing applied to the sample during or after retrieving the sample from environment, or a link to the relevant protocol(s) performed.

Volume (ml) or mass (g) of total collected sample processed for DNA extraction. Note: total sample collected should be entered under the term 'sample size'.

A link to a literature reference, electronic resource or a standard operating procedure (SOP), that describes the material separation to recover the nucleic acid fraction from a sample

A link to a literature reference, electronic resource or a standard operating procedure (SOP), that describes the enzymatic amplification (PCR, TMA, NASBA) of specific nucleic acids

Total number of clones in the library prepared for the project

Total number of clones sequenced from the library

Library construction method used for clone libraries

Cloning vector type(s) used in construction of libraries

Specific enrichment or screening methods applied before and/or after creating clone libraries in order to select a specific group of sequences

Description of reaction conditions and components for PCR in the form of 'initial denaturation:94degC_1.5min; annealing=...'

PCR primers that were used to amplify the sequence of the targeted gene, locus or subfragment. This field should contain all the primers used for a single PCR reaction if multiple forward or reverse primers are present in a single PCR reaction. The primer sequence should be reported in uppercase letters

Adapters provide priming sequences for both amplification and sequencing of the sample-library fragments. Both adapters should be reported; in uppercase letters

The vertical distance below local surface, e.g. for sediment or soil samples depth is measured from sediment or soil surface, respectively. Depth can be reported as an interval for subsurface samples.