Metadata related to Optimized Intercropping System (NCBI PRJNA928765)

<strong>The Sahel of W Africa is a climate change hotspot, where soil degradation and recurring drought significantly reduce agricultural productivity. Erratic rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, t contributes to ongoing and future food insecurity in this region. The staple crop, pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), is grown by subsistence farmers during the rainy season without fertilizer or irrigation (conditions also desired for US domestic biofuel cultivation). Indigenous farming practices demonstrate one solution: where farmers intercrop with an native woody shrub (Guiera senegalensis), millet drought resilience - and crop yields - are dramatically increased. One mechanism of this beneficial interaction: shrubs perform hydraulic redistribution of water to surface soil, assisting crops through growing-season drought periods. Additionally, the moister and more nutrient rich soils under the shrub canopy harbor a distinct and active microbial community; this work examines the role of these microbes in aiding the millet. We have characterized this potential in partnership with the Joint Genome Institute (JGI, project number 505730) to metagenomically sequence the millet rhizo- and endo-sphere communities, with and without shrub intercropping, in long-term experimental plots in Senegal. Using the framework of known plant-microbe beneficial interactions we are analyzing metagenomes for genes and genomes related to plant growth promotion, and metagenomic data is publicly available via NCBI under PRJNA928765. Here, we publish soil chemical, plant biomass, and PLFA data obtained from the OSS during the 2019 sampling season and corresponding 2020 dry season. </strong>西非萨赫勒地区是气候变化热点区域，土壤退化与频发干旱严重削弱农业生产力。气候变化加剧的降雨波动，进一步加剧了该地区当前及未来的粮食不安全风险。当地主要粮食作物珍珠粟（Pennisetum glaucum）由自给农户在雨季种植，全程不施用肥料、不进行灌溉——这类种植条件同样适用于美国国内生物燃料作物的培育。本土农耕实践提供了一项可行解决方案：当农户将珍珠粟与本土木本灌木（Guiera senegalensis）间作时，珍珠粟的抗旱能力与作物产量均会得到显著提升。该互利互作的核心机制之一为：灌木可通过水力再分配将水分输送至表层土壤，帮助作物度过生长季的干旱时段。此外，灌木冠层下更为湿润且养分更充足的土壤中，栖息着独特且活跃的微生物群落；本研究旨在探究这类微生物对珍珠粟的辅助作用。本研究与联合基因组研究所（Joint Genome Institute，JGI，项目编号505730）合作，对塞内加尔长期试验样地中，实施灌木间作与未间作处理的珍珠粟根际与根内圈群落开展了宏基因组测序。基于已知的植物-微生物互利互作框架，我们将分析宏基因组中与植物促生长相关的基因及基因组；相关宏基因组数据已通过美国国家生物技术信息中心（National Center for Biotechnology Information，NCBI）以登录号PRJNA928765公开。本文同时公开了2019年采样季及对应2020年旱季，从OSS获取的土壤化学性质、植物生物量及磷脂脂肪酸（Phospholipid Fatty Acid，PLFA）数据。