Maize microbiome in mesocosm system
DNA was extracted from soil collected from mesocosm boxes and submitted to the University of Minnesota Genomics Center (UMGC) for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing targeting the V4V5 variable regions. Using a two-step PCR approach, the V4V5 region was amplified while simultaneously adding sample-specific barcodes and Illumina adapters. The resulting libraries were pooled, cleaned, and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform using a 2300 bp paired-end strategy. FASTQ files were subsequently processed using the DADA2 pipeline.