Data from: Metabarcoding and metabolome analyses of copepod grazing reveal feeding preference and linkage to metabolite classes in dynamic microbial plankton communities

In order to characterize copepod feeding in relation to microbial plankton
community dynamics, we combined metabarcoding and metabolome analyses
during a 22-day seawater mesocosm experiment. Nutrient amendment of
mesocosms promoted the development of haptophyte (Phaeocystis pouchetii)-
and diatom (Skeletonema marinoi)-dominated plankton communities in
mesocosms, in which Calanus sp. copepods were incubated for 24 h in
flow-through chambers to allow access to prey particles (<500 μm).
Copepods and mesocosm water sampled six times spanning the experiment were
analysed using metabarcoding, while intracellular metabolite profiles of
mesocosm plankton communities were generated for all experimental days.
Taxon-specific metabarcoding ratios (ratio of consumed prey to available
prey in the surrounding seawater) revealed diverse and dynamic copepod
feeding selection, with positive selection on large diatoms, heterotrophic
nanoflagellates and fungi, while smaller phytoplankton, including P.
pouchetii, were passively consumed or even negatively selected according
to our indicator. Our analysis of the relationship between Calanus grazing
ratios and intracellular metabolite profiles indicates the importance of
carbohydrates and lipids in plankton succession and copepod–prey
interactions. This molecular characterization of Calanus sp. grazing
therefore provides new evidence for selective feeding in mixed plankton
assemblages and corroborates previous findings that copepod grazing may be
coupled to the developmental and metabolic stage of the entire prey
community rather than to individual prey abundances.