Project description:Three-day metatranscriptome of surface gravel plain soils from the Central Namib Desert. Samples were collected at four times (6:00, 12:00, 18:00 and 24:00h) on each day (n=12). rRNA-depleted RNA was used to construct stranded libraries with the ScriptSeq v2 complete kit (Epicentre) adding unique barcodes in TruSeq adapters (ScriptSeq Index PCR primers, set 1, Epicentre). Libraries were single-end sequenced in a NextSeq 500 v2 sequencer, with read length of 75bp.
Project description:Desert microbial communities live in a pulsed ecosystem shaped by isolated and rare precipitation events. The Namib desert is one of the oldest continuously hyperarid ecosystems on Earth. In this study, surface microbial communities of open soils (without sheltering features like rocks, vegetation or biological soil crusts) are analysed. We designed an artificial rainfall experiment where a 7x7 (3.5 x 3.5 m) plot remained dry while an adjacent one received a 30 mm simulated rain. Samples were taken randomly in parallel from both plots at 10 min, 1 h, 3 h, 7 h, 24 h and 7 days after the watering moment. Duplicate libraries were generated from total (rRNA depleted) RNA and sequenced 2x150 bp in an Illumina Hiseq 4000 instrument.
Project description:The populations of the Angolan Namib Desert have been largely neglected in previous surveys of the genomic landscape of southern Africa. Although at present, the Namib is culturally dominated by Southwest Bantu-speaking cattle-herders, the region exhibits an extraordinary ethnographic diversity which includes an array of semi-nomadic peoples whose subsistence strategies fall outside the traditional division between foraging and food production and can thus be referred to as “peripateticâ€Â. Among these small-scale populations are the last speakers of the Kwadi branch of the Khoe-Kwadi language family associated with the introduction of pastoralism into southern Africa (Kwepe), as well as a range of groups whose origins remain enigmatic (Kwisi, Twa and Tjimba). Using genome-wide data from 208 individuals belonging to nine ethnically diverse groups from the Angolan Namib and adjacent areas (Kwepe, Kwisi, Twa, Tjimba, !Xun, Kuvale, Himba, Nyaneka, Ovimbundu) in combination with published data from other regions of Africa, we reconstruct in detail the histories of contact emerging from pre-historic migrations to southern Africa and show that peripatetic groups from southwestern Angola stand out for exhibiting elevated levels of an unique, regionally-specific and highly divergent Pre-Bantu ancestry. These findings highlight the importance of the Namib for understanding the deep genetic structure of Africa.
| EGAS00001007011 | EGA
Project description:Central Namib Desert salt pan metagenomes