Soil microbiome Raw sequence reads

Sample preservation is the critical point of any study, which relies on molecular tools and is conducted in remote areas. There is a broad choice of sample preservation options, which include both low-temperature and room-temperature storage requiring freezing equipment and specific buffering solutions respectively. Our aim was to test, if DNA/RNA Shield 1x from Zymo Research and DESS (Dimethyl sulfoxide, Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, Saturated Salt) solution give a similar performance to the snap-freeze in liquid nitrogen. We have stored the soil samples with each of the buffers and without any solution at the range of temperatures for the period of 1 month. All treatments were compared to the optimal one one - snap-freeze in liquid nitrogen. Subsequently, the resulting DNA quality and quantity were checked, and microbial community structure was investigated in all samples.