Merging sequencing runs containing different studies using merge_phyloseq?

[punnettsun]

Hi,

I'm trying to merge four sequencing runs (each sequencing run has a mix of samples from the 4 different studies of interest and are all stool samples). My end goal is to have a single combined phyloseq object where I would have a metadata column which can distinguish between studies: study1, study2, study3, & study4. Can I use merge_phyloseq to combine these 4 sequencing runs and then generate a tree? Or is there something else I should do prior to merging since I am working with different studies?

Thank you!