16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of paddy soil originating from Changsha or Hengnan (China)

Both arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) can pose severe threats to human health via the consumption of rice. Here, the microbial community in a pot experiment using two acidic paddy soils, originating from Changsha or Hengnan (China), was investigated to study the unknown effects of combined sulfate and limestone amendments under intermittent flooding for simultaneously decreasing As and Cd in rice. Microbial 16S rRNA genes were amplified using primers 515F and 806R targeting the V4 region, and subsequently library preparation with Nextera 2nd step PCR and sequencing on Illumina MiSeq, v2, 2x250 bp were performed.