Comprehensive Metagenomics Investigation of Qatar Soil Bacterial Diversity

This study investigates the bacterial diversity and community composition of arid Qatari soils and their relationship with geochemical properties using high-throughput 16S rRNA V3-V4 amplicon sequencing. Soil samples were collected from five locations, including coastal and inland sites, to capture environmental variability in salinity, nutrient availability, and heavy metal content. The project aims to profile taxonomic diversity, identify potential novel microbial taxa adapted to extreme desert environments, and explore correlations between microbial composition and soil chemistry. The generated data will provide a valuable resource for understanding microbial ecology in arid ecosystems, supporting future research in environmental microbiology, soil health management, and biotechnological applications.