Monthly survey of culturable heterotrophic protist communities along the Mediterranean coast (2017-2018) using 18S V4 barcoding

To investigate the ecology of free-living amoebae and their interactions with vibrios in Mediterranean coastal waters, monthly sampling was conducted over one year (2017-2018) at three contrasting sites in the south of France. Water and sediment samples were collected at Thau lagoon next to oyster tables at the Bouzigues station Ifremer-REPHY (GPS: N 4326.058' - E 0339.878), at open sea close to Sete harbor (GPS: N 4323.539' - E 0341.933) and near the marine protected area of Banyuls-sur-Mer at the SOLA station (GPS: N 4229.300 - E 0308.700). Surface water (1 meter depth) was collected using a HydroBios bottle at the three sites, and surface sediment (first centimeters) with cores taken by scuba divers at 9 m, 10 m and 30 meter depth respectively at Thau lagoon, Sete and Banyuls-sur-Mer. Heterotrophic protists were isolated by culturing water and sediment samples on bacterial lawns of E. coli, V. tasmaniensis, V. crassostreae or V. harveyi on agar plates for 2 weeks. Eukaryotic diversity was investigated using 18S V4 barcoding.