Bacterial community composition in the naturally iron-fertilized region off Kerguelen Island (Southern Ocean). Targeted Locus (Loci)

The KEOPS2 cruise sampling strategy covered spatially diverse iron-fertilized stations at early bloom stages in the Kerguelen plateau and ocean region (Oct-Nov 2011). KEOPS2 data showed that natural iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean at the scale of hundreds of thousands km2 produced a mosaic of blooms, and that the biological and biogeochemical response to fertilization was diverse. The objective of this study was to explore the bacterial community structure using 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing during the onset of spring phytoplankton blooms in the context of natural Fe fertilization of the Southern Ocean.