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A metabarcoding analysis of the wrackbed microbiome indicates a phylogeographic break along the North Sea - Baltic Sea transition zone

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title A metabarcoding analysis of the wrackbed microbiome indicates a phylogeographic break along the North Sea - Baltic Sea transition zone
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/FUIOG9
 
Creator Roger, Fabian
Berdan, Emma
Maren Wellenreuther
Alexandra Kinnby
Gunnar Cervin
Ricardo Pereyra
Mats Töpel
Kerstin Johannesson
Roger K. Butlin
Carl André
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description Sandy beaches are biogeochemical hotspots that bridge marine and terrestrial ecosystems via the transfer of organic matter, such as seaweed (termed wrack). A keystone of this unique ecosystem is the microbial community, which helps to degrade wrack and re-mineralize nutrients. However, little is known about this community. Here we characterize the wrackbed microbiome as well as the microbiome of a primary consumer, the seaweed fly Coelopa frigida, and examine how they change along one of the most studied ecological gradients in the world, the transition from the marine North Sea to the brackish Baltic Sea. We found that polysaccharide degraders dominated both microbiomes but there were still consistent differences between wrackbed and fly samples. Furthermore, we observed a shift in both microbial communities and functionality between the North and Baltic Sea driven by changes in the frequency of different groups of known polysaccharide degraders. We hypothesize that microbes were selected for their abilities to degrade different polysaccharides corresponding to a shift in polysaccharide content in the different seaweed communities. Our results reveal the complexities of both the wrackbed microbial community, with different groups specialized to different roles, and the cascading trophic consequences of shifts in the near shore algal community.
 
Subject Earth and Environmental Sciences
wrack, coastal ecosystems, Bacteroidetes, salinity, microbial ecology, Coelopa frigida, algae
 
Contributor Roger, Fabian