%0 Journal Article %A Christian Wurzbacher %A Katrin Attermeyer %A Marie Therese Kettner %A Clara Flintrop %A Norman Warthmann %A Sabine Hilt %A Hans-Peter Grossart %A Michael T. Monaghan %T Universal metabarcoding of pico- to mesoplankton reveals seasonal dynamics and a bacterial bloom %D 2016 %R 10.1101/058628 %J bioRxiv %P 058628 %X Most studies of biodiversity focus on either macroscopic or microbial communities, with little or no simultaneous study of eukaryotes and prokaryotes. We tested whether a universal metabarcoding approach could be used to study the total diversity and temporal dynamics of aquatic pico- to mesoplankton communities in a shallow temperate lake. The approach revealed significant changes in the relative abundance of eukaryotic and prokaryotic plankton communities over a period of three months. These patterns, based on sequencing reads, fit with counts using traditional methods. We also witnessed the bloom of a conditionally rare bacterial taxon belonging to Arcicella, a genus that has been largely overlooked in freshwaters. Our data demonstrate the potential of universal metabarcoding as a complement to traditional studies of plankton communities, and for long-term monitoring across a broad range of organisms. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2016/06/13/058628.full.pdf