High spatial resolution global ocean metagenomes from Bio-GO-SHIP repeat hydrography transects

Area of Science:

• Marine biology
• Oceanography
• Metagenomics

Background:

• Detailed microbial community data in marine environments have been limited compared to physical and chemical measurements.
• Understanding marine microbial ecology is crucial for assessing ocean health and function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a comprehensive dataset of 971 globally distributed surface ocean metagenomes.
• To enable high-resolution analysis of marine microbial communities.
• To support research on the link between microbial communities and biogeochemical fluxes in a changing ocean.

Main Methods:

• Collected 971 globally distributed surface ocean metagenomes at high spatio-temporal resolution.
• Utilized a low-cost metagenomic sequencing protocol generating 3.65 terabases of data.
• Samples were collected with a median distance of 26 km between stations as part of the Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP).

Main Results:

• Generated a large-scale metagenomic dataset covering the global surface ocean.
• Achieved high spatio-temporal resolution in microbial community sampling.
• The dataset provides a median of 3.41 billion base pairs per sample.

Conclusions:

• The presented metagenomic dataset is a valuable resource for marine science.
• High-resolution microbial data can help elucidate the role of microbes in ocean biogeochemistry.
• This dataset will facilitate research into climate change impacts on marine microbial ecosystems.