Initial sample processing can influence the soil microbial metabarcoding surveys, revealed by Leucocalocybe mongolica fairy ring ecosystem

In this study, we aimed to investigate the influence of soil preservation approaches, especially cryopreservation and high temperature-drying on the sequencing quality of its microbial community and the background microbial diversity information of fairy ring soil from Leucocalocybe mongolica. Through DNA metabarcoding surveys based on 16S rDNA and ITS barcodes, we observed that the bacterial abundance was notably changed when the soil samples were exposed in room temperature for 4 hours, whereas the fungal composition was not significantly changed. Moreover, the soil samples preserved their major microbial structures even after high temperature-drying for 12 hours, whereas their microbial diversity was influenced. Overall, a total of 9283 and 1871 OTUs were obtained from soil bacteria and fungi, respectively, and we observed that Chthoniobacteraceae and Tricholomataceae were the dominant bacterial and fungal families in the fairy ring soil, respectively. Our study reveals the impact of soil processing methods on the microbial community compositions and contributes to the understanding of fairy ring ecology.