Karlovsky lab: investigation of soil microbiome

Working on agroforestry project SIGNAL (Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture through Agroforestry), Lukas Beule introduced DNA-based analysis of microbial communities into our lab. Research on soil microbiome typically comprises four steps: sampling, which is a hard work when it includes subsoil (deep soil); DNA extraction and amplificaton in a wet lab; sequencing of amplified taxonomically informative DNA fragments; and finally bioinformatics, statistics and interpretation converting data into knowledge. The photo below shows a drilling core with soil sampled from 60 cm depth:

To push the probe 60 cm deep into the soil, Lukas Beule and Victor Guerra (University of Florida) used a hydraulic sledge hammer (left). To pull the probe out, they used a double-gear cable puller (right):

The last photo shows one of the sampling sites in our agroforestry project SIGNAL.

Related project: Food preference of land isopodes