title: oil sand tailing sample 2 mbs subjected to 40 seconds of bead beating for DNA extraction
organism: hydrocarbon metagenome
description: Sample taken from 2 mbs of an inactive oil sand tailings pond with the aim of optimizing DNA extraction process. It is the first time that 454 pyrosequencing is used to study the microbial diversity in oil sand tailings ponds,therefore there was not a pre-established protocol that would allow an optiamal representation of the actual community inhabiting tailings ponds.  The Fast DNA spin kit for soil was used without any variation of the original kit protocol.