metaTraits: a large-scale integration of microbial phenotypic trait information

Microbes differ greatly in their organismal structure, physiology, and environmental adaptation, yet information about these phenotypic traits is dispersed across multiple databases and is largely unavailable for taxa that remain uncultured. Here, we present metaTraits, a unified and accessible trait resource that integrates culture-derived trait information from BacDive, BV-BRC, JGI IMG, and GOLD with genome-based predictions for medium and high-quality isolate and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from proGenomes and SPIRE. metaTraits covers over 2.2 million genomes and >140 harmonized traits mapped to standardized ontologies, spanning cell morphology (e.g. shape, size, and Gram staining), physiology (e.g. motility and sporulation), metabolic and enzymatic activities, environmental preferences (e.g. temperature, salinity, and oxygen tolerance), and lifestyle categories. All records are linked to the original evidence, and species are cross-linked to NCBI and GTDB taxonomies. The interactive metaTraits website provides search and visualization tools, taxonomy-level summaries, and two workflows for annotating user-submitted genomes or community profiles. metaTraits substantially advances accessibility and interoperability of microbial trait data, enabling comprehensive trait-based analyses of microbiomes across diverse environments. metaTraits is accessible via https://metatraits.embl.de.