MinION DNA barcoding to compare biome on microplastics collected from Atlantic Ocean (PR) and Mediterranean Sea (IL) in Summer and Winter

In this study, we implemented a metabarcoding approach to compare the biomes on microplastics collected from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea in Summer and Winter. Samples were taken off the coast of Tel Aviv in Israel or off the coast of Portinho da Arrabida, Setubal, Portugal.Samples were amplified with 16s primers, to target prokaryotes, and sequenced using the MinION nanopore platform with multiplexing. The reads were subjected to an adapted bioinformatic pipeline to achieve optimal taxonomic characterization of the plastisphere in different environments.