Depth-resolved partitioning of phytoplankton and bacterial communities in a seasonally stratified large lake

Prokaryotic community composition was determined through V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing during early summer stratification in Lake Ontario. Despite a distinct thermocline, bacterial communities were stable, although differences were observed in chloroplast reads attributed to eukaryotic phototrophs. Chloroplast reads contributed up to 33.0% (station 63 epilimnion) of total reads.