Rock surface on the Baltic Sea coast Metagenome

In this study, we focused on interactions between mycobionts and lichen photobionts, their variability along an environmental gradient, and their relationship to wild algal stocks. We sampled crustose lichens and free-living microalgal communities from the littoral of the Baltic Sea, Kattegat and North Sea coasts. Our aim was to answer the following questions: 1. What is the diversity of lichen photobionts at the study site? 2. Does it change with salinity level? 3. Is the pool of available free-living photobionts reflected in the lichen photobiont choice? 4. Are mycobionts selective for their photobionts, or do they associate with the most abundant (best adapted) algae in the environment? This dataset includes six environmental samples in which the diversity of free-living rock-dwelling microalgal communities was examined.