Free-Living and Particle-Attached prokaryotic communities in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Free-living and particle-attached prokaryotes were characterized by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of size-fractionated samples collected during a diatom bloom. The diversity of free-living and particle-attached prokaryotic assemblages was investigated with the aim to understand how the microbial communities are structured in the two fractions and whether specific microbial groups belong to one or the other lifestyle.