Lake Arcas metagenomic datasets

Lake Arcas is a freshwater body (14.2 m depth, 45 m diameter) located at the Arcas-Ballesteros wetland (30SWK732276), which belongs to the karstic region of Cuenca (Central Spain). The lake is situated on a gypsum substrate, which results in high sulfate concentrations (14-17 mM) in its waters. Sulfide is produced via sulfate reduction in the anaerobic part of the lake, resulting in H2S accumulation in the hypolimnetic waters during the summer stratification period, which lasts from April to October. This study aims to characterize the microbial communities of this lake at different depths. Samples were obtained from 2, 8.3, 8.8, 9.3 and 11 m of depth to study the microbial vertical zoning and stratification patterns of the lake. Water samples were filtered through a series of 20, 5 and 0.22 micron filters. The 0.22 micron filters were sequenced with high-throughput Shotgun sequencing.