Geographical distribution and driving force of bacteria and micro-eukaryotes in the sediments of the Kermadec and Diamantina Trenches

The Kermadec Trench is located about 120 km off the northeastern coast of New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere. It reaches a maximum depth of 10,047 m, making it the fifth deepest trench (Angel, 1982). It is 1,500 km long with a mean width of 60 km and exhibits the characteristic V-shape cross section common to hadal trenches. The Diamantina Trench is located in the Indian Ocean and has a maximum depth of approximately 8,047 m. It is approximately 520 km long and 70 km wide, running in a northeast-southwest direction. It is around 1,500 km west of Perth, Australia. Here, we collected sediment samples from the the Diamantina and Kermadec trenches and investigated the bacteria and micro-eukaryotic communities based on high-throughput DNA sequencing. We aimed to reveal i) the geographical variation of bacteria and micro-eukaryotic communities in the the Diamantina and Kermadec trenches; ii) the relative contribution of different driving forces, i.e. environmental factors, spatial variables, and bio-interactions, to the formation of bacteria and micro-eukaryotic communities.