Genome sequencing and metagenomic 16S sequencing of microbial communities in high Arctic soil

Microbial communities in soil represent a large diverse network of bacterial communities with remarkable metabolic processes. Such communities which exist in extreme environments such as the arctic tundra are of particular interest as these communities are capable of survival under nutrient and energy poor circumstances. Using genomics approaches, we characterize the microbial communities in 149 samples from six soil types collected from various sites proximal to Thule Air Force Base (THU) located in Thule, Greenland. Additionally, we utilized innovative cultivation techniques to isolate previously uncharacterized soil bacterium.