Taxonomic annotation of archaeal 16S rRNA sequences and ecological metrics for methanogens from soil under grazing of supplemented cattle

• Grant number: 25/21717-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Acacio Aparecido Navarrete
• Grantee: Cauê Lemos
• Supervisor: Jorge Luiz Mazza Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Universidade Brasil. Campus Fernandópolis. Fernandópolis , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, Davis (UC Davis), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 25/05678-2 - Methanogenesis and denitrification in soil with xaraés grass under grazing by supplemented beef cattle, BP.IC

Abstract

We present here a plan for a research internship abroad with the main objective to address one of main research goals described in the ongoing principal research proposals - "Methanogenesis and denitrification in soil with xaraés grass under grazing by supplemented beef cattle" - FAPESP Scientific Initiation 2025/05678-2), which is part of the FAPESP project 2022/15974-0 Thematic Grants "Strategic grazing management and supplementation towards sustainable intensification at tropical pasture-based beef cattle production systems". The main objective of this research internship abroad is to apply computational approaches for merging, processing and annotation of sequences corresponded to 16S rRNA genes from Archaea associated with the production of CH4 (methanogenic) recovered from soil with xaraés grass under grazing by supplemented beef cattle in wet-season. Methological steps performed before abroad activities included: (i) genomic DNA extraction and purification from soil samples collected in xaraés grass pasture under grazing by supplemented beef cattle, and (ii) 16S rRNA amplicon libraries preparation and sequencing. The raw sequencing data were stored on a hard drive and cloud computing platform and are available for analysis using bioinformatics. Methodological steps for development at University of California (UC-Davis) include: (i) 16S rRNA amplicon sequence data preprocessing and taxonomic determination, (ii) 16S rRNA amplicon sequence data analysis, and (iii) Ecological metrics and statistical analyses. The expected goal of this project is to provide (i) support for better insight into the soil methanogenic community composition, and (ii) training in bioinformatics for the young investigator (undergraduate student) able to share bioinformatics analysis protocols with our emerging research team at University Brazil and FCAV-UNESP, Campus Jaboticabal. (AU)