Diversity of protists in Marmara Sea sediments and cold seeps

In this study, we have sequenced (MiSeq Illumina, paired-end) fragments of the 18S rRNA gene amplified from environmental DNA of several sediment samples coming from different depths below the water column and located at different sites in the Marmara Sea. Some sediments are affected by methane seepage and one sample corresponds to fragments from a small chimney emitting reduced fluids. Our study aims at providing a first comparative study of protist diversity along redox gradients in the Marmara Sea.