Under the ice bacterial cultures and genome sequences from the R/V Kronprins Haakon in the Arctic Ocean from May 18 to 21, 2023

Bacteria were cultured and sequenced from the Arctic Ocean under 2-meter-thick sea ice to identify patterns of gene, loss, and rearrangement. Cultures were obtained by high-throughput dilution to extinction cultivation using cryopreserved samples. Bacteria selected for genome sequencing were grown in 1 liter of Puget Sound seawater media and sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) R10.4.1 Flongle flow cells with the SQK-RAD114 rapid library prep kit (Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Oxford, United Kingdom). Time-series data indicate that this collection represents up to 60% of the marine bacterial community in the Arctic. Their complete genomes provide insights into the evolutionary processes that underlie diversity and adaptation to the Arctic Ocean.