Subject	Environmental Science
Specific subject area	Aerobic and anaerobic microbial natural attenuation of PCBs in freshwater sediments
Type of data	Dataset Table Raw fastq files Filtered and merged fastq files
How data were acquired	Instruments for PCB analysis: Automated Solvent Extractor (ASE), Gas chromatograph with a tandem mass spectrometer (GC/MS/MS) in multiple reaction monitoring mode Make and model of the instruments used for PCB analysis: Dionex ASE-300, Agilent 7000 triple quadrupole GC/MS/MS Instruments for qPCR analysis: real-time PCR instrument Make and model of the instruments used for qPCR analysis: Applied Biosystems ABI QuantStudio Flex 7 Real-Time PCR System Instruments for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing: Illumina MiSeq benchtop sequencer Make and model of the instruments used for 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing: Illumina MiSeq benchtop sequencer
Data format	Raw and analysed
Parameters for data collection	Sediment samples (27) were obtained from a PCB-contaminated freshwater lagoon according to a grid pattern. The concentrations of 209 PCB congeners, and the relative abundance of 16S rRNA genes and other functional genes associated with PCB biodegradation were determined in each sample in duplicate.
Description of data collection	Sediments were mixed with hexane and diatomaceous earth and PCBs were extracted with an ASE. All 209 PCB congeners were resolved, identified, and quantified by GC/MS/MS. DNA was extracted from sediments with a commercial extraction kit. The qPCR data was collected for five different 16S rRNA or functional gene targets with SYBR green as the reporter dye. Standard curves were constructed with known target gene amounts for quantification. Primers targeting the 16S rRNA gene V4 region were used to produce 16S rRNA gene amplicons for sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq chemistry and platform.
Data source location	Institution: University of Iowa City/Town/Region: Iowa City, IA Country: USA Latitude and longitude for PCB-contaminated emergency overflow lagoon located at a wastewater treatment plant in Altavista, VA: 37°06′47″N, 79°16′23″W.
Data accessibility	Repository for PCB dataset: Pangaea Data identification number: 0.1594/PANGAEA.933459 Direct URL to data: https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.933459 Repository for qPCR data: Iowa Research Online Data identification number: 10.25820/data.006142 Direct URL to data: https://doi.org/10.25820/data.006142 Raw 16S rRNA gene sequencing reads are deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under BioProject number PRJNA382682 Direct URL to data: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA382682/ Analysed 16S rRNA gene sequences generated by the MG-RAST automated processing pipeline and associated metadata are in MG-RAST under project number mgp92147 Direct URL to data: https://www.mg-rast.org/linkin.cgi?project=mgp92147
Related research article	Mattes, T.E., Ewald, J.M., Liang, Y., Martinez, A., Awad, A., Richards, P.M., Hornbuckle, K.C., and J.L. Schnoor. PCB dechlorination hotspots and reductive dehalogenase genes in sediments from a contaminated wastewater lagoon. Env Sci Poll Res 25 (2018) 16376-16388. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9872-x