Metatranscriptomics analysis of sponge Halichondria panicea exposed to marine snow, marine oil snow and dispersed oil contaminated seawater.. Metatranscriptomics analysis of Halichondria panicea exposed to hydrocarbons

In this study, we expose model sponge Halichondria panicea to oil, dispersant and marine oil snow contaminated seawater for a total of seven days. In addition, a control (seawater) and marine snow treatments were also included in the study. Three replicate sponge samples were used in each treatment. Metatranscriptomics analysis was used to determine the molecular response of the whole holobiont. Following total RNA extraction, samples were sent to to Edinburgh Genomics for library preparation and NovaSeq 100PE sequencing. Library preparation was performed by completing a RiboZero treatment with prokaryotic and eukaryotic rRNA depletions. Paired-end reads were run to 100 bp to yield at least 750M +750 M reads.