Bacterioplankton Diversity and Distribution in Relation to Phytoplankton Community Structure in the Ross Sea surface waters

Primary productivity in the Ross Sea region is characterized by intense phytoplankton blooms whose temporal and spatial distribution are driven by changes in environmental conditions as well as interactions with the bacterioplankton community. Exchange of exudates, metabolism by-products and cofactors between the phytoplankton and the bacterioplankton communities drive a series of complex interactions affecting the micronutrient availability and co-limitation, as well as nutrient uptakes in Antarctic waters. Yet, the number of studies reporting the simultaneous diversity of the phytoplankton and bacterioplankton in Antarctic waters are limited. Here we report data on the bacterial diversity in relation to phytoplankton community in the surface waters of the Ross Sea during the austral summer 2017. Our results show partially overlapping bacterioplankton communities between the stations located in the Terra Nova Bay coastal waters and the Ross Sea open waters, suggesting that the two communities are subjected to different drivers. We show that the rate of diversity change between the two locations is influenced by both abiotic (salinity and the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio) and biotic (phytoplankton community structure) factors. Our data provides new insight into the coexistence of the bacterioplankton and phytoplankton in Antarctic waters. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.