Bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing in Kuroshio region east of Taiwan

A total of 78 samples were collected in June of 2013, March, July, and November of 2014, and March of 2015 by GoFlo bottles equipped with CTD (Sea-Bird Electronics, Bellevue, WA, USA) along a transect of 8 stations in the Kuroshio region between 121.72° and 123° E at 23.75° N east of Taiwan. To compare bacteria communities in vertical dimension, we collected water samples from both surface and deep chlorophyll a maximum (DCM) layers. During each sampling, ~20L water at each layer was first passed through a 1.2 um-pore-size polycarbonate filter (Durapore, Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA) to exclude eukaryotes and other larger particles, and then through a 0.2 um-pore-size filter to retain the bacterioplankton community. The sample processing was completed within 4 hours after water collection. After filtration, the 0.2 um-pore size filters were stored in liquid nitrogen onboard and then shift to −20°C until further molecular analysis.