Metagenomic bacterial profiling data of soil before and after intercropping with Sesbania grandiflora in oil palm tree plantation.

The research was driven by the hypothesis that introducing the nitrogen-fixing legume Sesbania grandiflora as an intercrop within oil palm plantations would enhance soil microbial diversity and community dynamics, thereby improving soil fertility and offering a sustainable strategy to offset the cost of chemical fertilizers. The dataset comprises metagenomic bacterial profiling of soil samples collected in nine plots in Bukit Pelanduk, Malaysia, sampled before (September) and after (December), which were monocropped (serves as control) and intercropped with sesbania (serves as treatment). A notable finding was the significant increase in species richness, which grew from 1,939 species in the pre-trial soil (September) to 2,458 species post-treatment, with the microbial community dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes. To analyse the bacterial profiling, 16s RNA bacterial profiling through MinION Nanopore was used. The raw data obtained went through a series of bioinformatics analyses that encompassed data quality control, metagenome assembly, and taxonomy annotation. This data is interpreted as strong evidence of the beneficial effect of S. grandiflora intercropping on soil health, demonstrating a functionally diverse microbiome to validate sustainable agricultural techniques.

本研究基于下述假说开展：在油棕（oil palm）种植园中间作固氮豆科植物大花田菁（Sesbania grandiflora），可提升土壤微生物多样性与群落动态，进而改善土壤肥力，为抵消化学肥料的施用成本提供可持续策略。本数据集包含采自马来西亚武吉佩兰杜克（Bukit Pelanduk）9个样地的土壤样本宏基因组细菌谱分析（metagenomic bacterial profiling）数据，样本分别于试验前（9月）与试验后（12月）采集；样地分为单作组（为对照组）与间作大花田菁组（为处理组）。本研究的核心发现为物种丰富度显著提升，从试验前土壤（9月）的1939种增至试验后（12月）的2458种；微生物群落以变形菌门（Proteobacteria）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria）、厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）及拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）为优势类群。本次细菌谱分析采用MinION纳米孔测序（MinION Nanopore）平台开展16S rRNA细菌谱分析。所获取的原始数据经过一系列生物信息学分析流程，涵盖数据质量控制、宏基因组组装与分类学注释。本数据可为大花田菁间作对土壤健康的有益作用提供有力佐证，证明其可构建功能多样的微生物群落，从而验证可持续农业技术的可行性。