Arctic Microbial Eukaryote Plankton Trophic Diversity Across Water Masses

Summer 2026 data from Nares Strait into Baffin Bay characterizes microbial eukaryote assemblages across four vertically stacked water masses. The dataset, created by Aurélie Labarre and shared under CC-BY-4.0, is based on high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene V4 region from two size fractions (0.22–3 and 3–50 μm). It captures the distribution of dinoflagellates, heterotrophic, mixotrophic, and phototrophic lineages to test associations between trophic strategies and water mass origin.

Use Cases

• Analyzing associations between microbial eukaryote trophic strategies (e.g., mixotrophic, phototrophic) and water mass origin based on the described sampling.
• Characterizing the distribution of rare taxa and uncultivated groups within distinct Arctic water masses as mentioned in the methods.
• Investigating the potential reservoir of parasitic Syndinales in deep Atlantic waters as suggested by the distribution of core dinoflagellates.
• Studying the persistence of DNA from dead organisms in deeper water communities, where phototrophic lineages may originate from surface or sediment.

Strengths

• Data is explicitly linked to four distinct, vertically stacked Arctic water masses, providing environmental context.
• Sequencing targeted the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene across two defined size fractions (0.22–3 and 3–50 μm).
• The dataset includes analysis of both dominant and rare taxa, as stated in the methods and results.
• License is clearly defined as CC-BY-4.0, facilitating open reuse.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain analyses.
• The approach was limited to DNA as a template, which may capture historic distributions from dead organisms as noted in the discussion.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Aurélie Labarre.

Collection Method

High-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene V4 region from water samples.

Time Range

Summer (specific year not provided).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-08 05:56:45; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arctic Ocean, specifically from Nares Strait into Baffin Bay.