Marine particle microbiomes during a spring diatom bloom contain active sulfate-reducing bacteria.

Phytoplankton blooms fuel marine food webs with labile dissolved carbon and also lead to the formation of particulate organic matter composed of living and dead algal cells. These particles contribute to carbon sequestration and are sites of intense algal-bacterial interactions, providing diverse niches for microbes to thrive. We analyzed 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequences obtained from 51 time points and metaproteomes from 3 time points during a spring phytoplankton bloom in a shallow location (6-10 m depth) in the North Sea.