V9 18SrDNA metabarcoding of piconano-plankton of the Weddell Sea

We collected 110 marine planktonic DNA samples from multiple depth transects in the Weddell Sea during the PS118 expedition of RV Polarstern. Sampling depth ranged from 40 m to 3221 m, with a step of approximately 200 m. Up to 17 samples were taken at one location. DNA from the 0.8-20 micrometre size fraction was isolated and the V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene was amplified using universal eukaryotic primers (TTGTACACACCGCCC, CCTTCYGCAGGTTCACCTAC). V9 amplicons were sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq instrument Genome Quebec, and paired-end 150 bp reads were generated.