This oral session will focus on the analysis of soil microbial communities (16S rRNA amplicon sequences, 454 pyrosequencing, Ion Torrent, shotgun metagenomic data, and others) using MOTHUR, QIIME, and others-related  software packages. At the end of the symposium participants will learn the different next generation sequencing platforms, resources and data analysis and how they may apply to their research. They will also learn how the different databases and bioinformatic analyses tools may be accurately and efficiently used for their data.