New users can contact our curators by email. Subsequently, our curators will create an account for you. After you receive your login, you will be able to submit your data. When the new sequences are submitted to BIGSdb, the BLAST algorithm incorporated into BIGSdb identifies already known sequence variants or marks an unknown variant for curator verification. After verification by a curator, a novel allele number is assigned. Based on the analyses of 545 core genes, cgSTs (core genome Sequencing Types) and cgCGs (core genome Clonal Groups) are defined. cgSTs represent profiles that differ by no allele other than for missing data and cgCGs are defined by a single-linkage clustering threshold of 40 allelic mismatches. I.e., CG is defined as a group of cgMLST allelic profiles differing by no more than 40 allelic mismatches, out of 545 gene loci, from at least one other member of the group.

Metadata of the samples should be submitted to the database as well, and should include some important characteristics of isolates, for example, isolate identification name/number; country where the strain was isolated; biological source of sample; year of isolation; serogroup and serovar; etc. We encourage the researchers to upload as much information about patients and samples as available. You can download the template for Leptospira isolates metadata here.

Before working with BIGSdb, we strongly recommend you to read the BIGSdb manual.