Jellyfish degrading microbiome form coastal region

The global increase in jellyfish populations can have serious ecological and socio-economic consequences. As jellyfish blooms decay, sinking jellyfish detrital organic matter (jelly-OM), rich in proteins, represents a largely overlooked but significant source of OM for pelagic marine microorganisms. Yet, the jelly-OM is inadequately characterized and the key players mediating the process of microbial jelly-OM degradation remain unknown. To accurately incorporate jelly-OM into global biogeochemical cycles in the future, the pelagic microbial jelly-OM degradation process needs to be further investigated. Here, we are providing in-detail characterization of detrital jelly-OM and new insights into the processing of jelly-OM by microbial communities in the water column.