Investigating the effect of nematodes on the taxonomic and functional profiles of bacterial communities in marine sediment

We applied a metatranscriptomics approach to simultaneously investigate shifts in the taxonomic composition and functionality of the active bacterial communities in marine sediments in response to the addition of a nematode community. We created 10 mesocosms consisting of sediment and natural bacterial populations, and extracted RNA at the start of the experiment. Natural nematode communities from an intertidal mudflat were then added to half of the mesocosms. After seven days of incubation, RNA was extracted from the mesocosms to perform metatranscriptomics analysis to investigate the taxonomic and functional composition of the samples.