title: Study of taxonomic and functional diversity and community structure of microbes present in agricultural soil.
design: Soils are a primary sink for heavy metals and metalloids such as Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn, Hg, and Pb, due to emissions from fast urbanization and industrialization, mining-mine refuse, tailings, smelting, wastewater irrigation, pesticides, petrochemical wastes, chemical fertilizers, e-waste, batteries, sewage sludge, and fly ash-coal combustion products. Changes in agricultural practices combined with technological advancement have led to heavy metal toxicity, resulting in nutrient-deficient soil, unstable soil structures, and slow yield rates of vegetation. Metals or metalloid levels in soil are rapidly increasing, endangering plant growth, food safety, and soil microflora. Efforts have been made, however, to develop various green recycling methods in order to address existing concerns. Bioremediation has emerged as a promising solution for cleaning up the polluted environment caused by metal contamination. Our ongoing study uses a culture-independent metagenomics approach to understand the taxonomy, diversity, and functional roles of microbes present in agricultural soil and coal sludge. We collected agricultural soil samples using standard protocols and 16S rRNA gene V3V4 region amplicon sequencing was performed.