Pool of six soil ages from HAAST coastal dune system, New Zealand
bateria
The six ages were: 181y, 392y, 517y, 1826y, 4422y, and 6500y. Each age comprised of 4 independent replicates collected from replicate plots (5x10m) using a 2.5cm diameter corer (0 to 20-cm depth). Total community DNA was extracted from 0.5 g of soil using the ZR Soil-Microbe DNA™ kit (Zymo Research).   For pyrosequencing, partial bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments were PCR-amplified in 20-cycle reactions using primer 515R-NK linked to the 454 Life Science’s FLX-A sequencing adaptor, and a sevenfold-degenerate primer 27F-YM 3 linked to the FLX-B sequencing adaptor. An 8-nt sample-specific barcode was added between the A-adaptor and primer 515R-NK and was used to bioinformatically separate amplicons from the multiplexed reactions post-sequencing.