16S rRNA gene sequencing of Atacama Desert soil

The Atacama Desert is the oldest and driest desert on Earth and is known to contain large reserves of nitrate due to long-term atmospheric photolysis, oxidation and deposition. Whether it can provide a viable habitat for denitrifying microorganisms and whether they can conduct complete denitrification, however, remains unknown. To answer this, soil samples along a hyperaridity gradient were collected in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Afterwards, soil incubation experiments were conducted under a He-O2 atmosphere. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to investigate the bacterial community structure after incubation.