Fungal ITS amplicon sequencing from cropland and forest soils across China

This project investigates soil fungal communities across eight triplet sites in China, including cropland, coniferous forest, and broadleaved forest soils. The sites span a climatic gradient (30 14 53 N to 40 38 49 N, 103 25 52 E to 114 22 44 E) with mean annual precipitation of 114 to 1299 mm and mean annual temperature of 6.1 to 17.1 C. Cropland serves as a control, while forests approximately 20 years old share similar topography and climate.Soil DNA was extracted using the TGuide S96 Magnetic Soil/Stool DNA Kit (Tiangen Biotech, Beijing, China), and quality was assessed with a NanoDrop One spectrophotometer. The fungal ITS1 region was amplified using primers ITS1F and ITS2. PCR conditions included initial denaturation at 95 C for 5 min, 25 cycles of 95 C for 30 s, 50 C for 30 s, 72 C for 40 s, and a final extension at 72 C for 7 min. PCR products were verified by agarose gel electrophoresis, purified with the EZNA Gel Extraction Kit, and prepared for sequencing using the NEBNext Ultra DNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina. Sequencing was performed on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform.These ITS amplicon sequences provide insight into how soil fungal communities respond to land-use change and forest type in temperate China. The data offer a valuable resource for studies on soil microbial diversity, ecosystem functioning, and forest management.