DOI: 10.5061/dryad.m63xsj45z
title: Sources of microbial reference materials

description: Despite the importance of the microbiome in a wide array of human and
 environmental health settings, challenges remain in taking accurate and
 precise measurements of microbial communities. Challenges in measuring
 microbial communities can be partially addressed through the use of
 "reference materials," which we interpret as any physical
 material that can be used for quality control, validation, diagnostics,
 and standardization in metagenomic, microbiome, or multi-omics workflows.
 As members of the International Microbiome and Multi'Omics Standards
 Alliance (IMMSA) Reference Materials Working Group, we collated a list of
 available sources of microbial reference material standards. Each entry in
 our list includes a description, type of material, availability, storage
 requirements, biosafety level, species richness, and more. Due to the
 geographical composition of the working group, the list of materials may
 be biased towards materials that are available in regions of North America
 and Western Europe. This list is a living document, and we welcome
 revisions and contributions from the global microbiome
 community. 
description: See the README for a complete description, including information
 on references used to compile the spreadsheet. 
description: # Sources of microbial reference materials
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m63xsj45z](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m63xsj45z) This datasheet lists sources and descriptions of microbial reference material standards, which we interpret as any physical material that can be used for quality control, validation, diagnostics, and standardization in metagenomic, microbiome, or multi-omics workflows. Each entry in our list includes a description, type of material, availability, storage requirements, biosafety level, species richness, and more. ## Description of the data and file structure Our submission is a single datasheet. Each row in the datasheet corresponds to a microbial reference material standard, and each column corresponds to a specific descriptor for that standard. Cells list "unknown" (or are left blank) when it was not possible to find the needed information from publicly available provider descriptions. Information for spreadsheet v1.1 was collated in August 2022, and can be considered "current" at that time. Columns include * Name (short) * Name (extended) * Description * Host Site Association -- e.g., Stool, Oral, Vaginal, None. * Type -- e.g., Purified DNA, Whole Cell, etc. * Availability -- Availability of the material. * Source -- The name of the material's provider. * Format -- e.g., Frozen, Freeze-Dried, etc. May include information on the material's buffer. * Biosafety Level -- BSL levels, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 4 (highest). * Storage requirements * Richness, strain-level, bacteria only (number of distinct bacterial populations present) * Richness, strain-level, archaea only (number of distinct archaeal populations present) * Richness, strain-level, fungi only (number of distinct fungi present) * Richness, strain-level, virus only (number of distinct virus present) * Richness, genome-level, human only (number of distinct human genomes present) * Names of genomes present -- Includes target percentages (DNA copies or concentration) where available. * Scope: genomes -- Yes or No. Is the material a *genome* reference material? * Scope: proteins -- Yes or No. Is the material a *proteome* reference material? * Scope: metabolomics -- Yes or No. Is the material a *metabolome* reference material? * Other information -- may include specification range (if available), additional availability information, additional development information, etc. * Links -- sources used to populate the row. ## References used to compile the spreadsheet The column "Links" lists the source information for each reference material. ## Additions and corrections This list is a living document, and we welcome revisions and contributions from the global microbiome community. To contribute an addition or a correction, please reach out to Dr. Amy Willis [adwillis@uw.edu](mailto:adwillis@uw.edu) and/or the co-leaders of the International Microbiome and Multi'Omics Standards Alliance (IMMSA) Reference Materials Working Group.