title: RNA-seq of soil: pasture sodosol
design: Soil samples were collected in December 2021 from the University of Sydney-owned Nowley Farm on the Liverpool plains, New South Wales, Australia. Samples were packed into sterile 50 ml conical tubes and stored on ice until transported to a -80C freezer for long-term storage. Total RNA was extracted from the samples using the RNeasy PowerSoil Total RNA Kit (Qiagen) as per the manufacturers instructions. Libraries were constructed using the Illumina Stranded Total RNA library preparation protocol and rRNA was removed using the Ribo-Zero Plus rRNA depletion kit (Illumina). Libraries were sequenced on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform (paired-end, 150 bp). Library preparation and sequencing was performed by the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF). Data generated as part of the study Australian terrestrial environments harbour extensive RNA virus diversity.