The Sapling Server offers access to the underlying integration of genomic data-including genomes, genes, proteins, annotations, subsystems, FIGfams, and co-occurrence data. On the server side, the Sapling Server accesses a database implemented by an entity-relationship data model (ERDB). The ERDB model is defined by a set of XML metadata describing the entities, relationships, and attributes in a form that can be used to generate queries as well as the documentation and an up-to-date database diagram may be viewed at http://servers.nmpdr.org/ figdisk/FIG/ErdbDocWidget.cgi?database = Sapling. Thus, the public description of the database always remains synchronized with the internal data structures-an important benefit in a database designed for public use.