Cerrado soil Metagenome. soil metagenome

Despite the significant ecological and economical importance of the Cerrado, little is currently known about its biodiversity, especially concerning its soil microbial diversity.A still open question is how different land use systems influence the diversity and structure of microbial communities under the same soil type. In this context, the aim of this work was to analyze and compare the soil bacterial communities from Cerrado under different land use systems using high throughput pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The research was performed on soil samples from agricultural and natural areas in the Triângulo Mineiro region in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, at 18°58’ S and 47°02 W and 939 m above the sea level. A total of 12 soil samples (three for each environment) were chosen for sampling and were taken from four locations under Natural Forest (mesophilic forest comprised by species of Qualea grandifolia, Bowdichia virgilioides, Pterodon pubescens, Caryocar brasiliense, Vatairea macrocarpa, Astronium fraxinifolium, Eugenia dysenterica, and Hymenaea stigonocarpas), Grassland (used for grassing, comprised by Brachiaria decumbens ~ 20 years old), Sugarcane field (monoculture of sugarcane ~15 years old and annually fertilized with P, K and N) and Coniferous Forest (dense forest of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis with 32 years old; the soil surface presented a 10 cm layer of litter consisting of needles, cones and woodchipsan area).