Microbiome and bacterioplankton rRNA gene sequence data collected from Gulf of Mexico seawater samples during cruise DP05 from 2017-05-01 to 2017-05-11

Seawater was collected and filtered for microbiome and bacterioplankton sequencing and analyses at various depths during planned DEEPEND cruise expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico (biannual). Filters were stored and then processed for total environmental genomic DNA according to standard methods (see earthmicrobiome.org). 16S rRNA amplicon libraries covering the V4 hypervariable regions were generated with universal PCR primers and then sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq DNA sequencing platform. Vertical baseline characterizations tracked alpha and beta diversity at different depths ranging from 2 – 1500 m, in addition to seasonal variation. Microbiome analyses along with other environmental variables unique to the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), such as Mississippi river green water inputs, local eddies or microbiomes of associated GOM marine fauna form part of community ecology profiles.