Alma E. Parada

TL;DR: It is shown that beyond in silico predictions, testing with mock communities and field samples is important in primer selection, and a single mismatch can strongly bias amplification, but even perfectly matched primers can exhibit preferential amplification.

TL;DR: Modification of modified 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) primers for archaea/bacteria and fungi with nonaquatic samples demonstrated that two recently modified primer pairs that target taxonomically discriminatory regions of bacterial and fungal genomic DNA do not introduce new biases when used on a variety of sample types.

TL;DR: This surface-to-bottom, decade-long, study identifies seasonality and interannual variability not only of overall community structure, but also of numerous taxonomic groups and near-species level operational taxonomic units.

TL;DR: Environmental factors were better predictors of shifts in community composition than months or elapsed time alone; yet, the best predictor was community composition at the other depth (that is, 0–5 m versus DCM).

TL;DR: The interpretation is that, over the scale of days, individual bacterial and viral OTUs can be dynamic and patterned; resulting in statistical associations regarded as potential ecological interactions, suggesting that there is strong community-level ecological resilience, that is, a tendency to converge towards a ‘mean’ microbial community set by longer-term controlling factors.