Table 1.

Overview of the tables in the sample metadata database

Database table	Content
Sample	Identity of a sample, including strain name, serovar, and submission date
Collection	Where, when and what type of environment the sample was collected from
Human_Host	Information about the human host for clinical samples, such as age and gender
Non_Human_Host	Information about non-human hosts for environmental samples
Study_Method	Methods used for obtaining and identifying a sample
Project	Information about the project associated with the strain
Project_Sample	Links projects to samples
Owner	Information about the organization that submitted the information about a strain
Collection_Owner	Information about the organization that collected the strain
Project_Publication	Links a sample to publications by PubMed Identifier
Cross_Reference	Stores source and id pairs for documents and databases that reference a sample