Zooplankton microbiomes

Zooplankton plays a crucial role in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems through its key position in aquatic food webs. However, little is known about their microbiome composition and how this composition is affected by the two main pressures to aquatic ecosystems: climate change and eutrophication. Here, we tested the combined effects of long-term warming (15 years) and eutrophication on the microbiome composition of zooplankton in a mesocosm experiment. Twenty-four mesocosms were established that mimicking natural environment in a factorial design of elevated temperature (ambient, ambient+2oC and ambient+4oC) as well as increased nutrient level (enriched and unenriched). Total DNA was extracted from the major groups of zooplankton (e.g., cladocerans, copepods and rotifers) and its surrounding microbiomes like free-living bacterioplankton and particle-associated (PA) fractions from the water column of each mesocosm in order to know how the microbiome of zooplankton differ in compare to its surrounding microbiomes.