Culture-dependent and culture-independent characterization of bacterial community diversity in different types of sandy lands:

Minqin, which is surrounded by the Badain Jaran Desert and the Tengger Desert, located at the lower reaches of Shiyang River next to Wuwei, Gansu Province, northwest China. Two dominant desert plants, N. tangutorum and H. ammodendron, which are distributed in all three sandy lands (fixed sandy land, semi-fixed sandy land and shifting sandy land), were selected for further study in Minqin. Bulk and rhizosphere soil samples were collected from N. tangutorum and H. ammodendron at maturity growth stage in three sandy lands. Bulk soil as the control group, collected from each sandy land without any plant. All samples were divided into two parts, one for soil physical and chemical properties determination, and the other for low temperature storage in aseptic box for bacteria isolation and soil DNA extraction.