This dataset contains data from algal-associated bacteria from the green macroalgae, Caulerpa, from the paper " Morrissey, K.L. et al. (2021) Impacts of environmental stress on resistance and resilience of algal-associated bacterial communities. Ecology and Evolution". The experiment investigates the effects of a factorial combination of nutrient and temperature stress on the bacterial communities. We have also assessed the resistance and resilience of the algal-associated microbiota to environmental stress, using community dissimilarity metrics. 

Bacteria were characterised using the 16S rRNA gene and the community compositions were compared between different parts of the algal thallus (endo-, epi- and rhizomicrobiome).

The results of this study provide evidence that nutrient enrichment has a significant influence on the taxonomic and functional structure of the epimicrobiota, with a low community resistance index observed for both. Temperature and nutrient stress had a significant effect on the rhizomicrobiota taxonomic composition, exhibiting the lowest overall resistance to change. The functional performance of the rhizomicrobiota had low resilience to the combination of stressors, indicating potential additive effects. Interestingly, the endomicrobiota had the highest overall resistance, yet the lowest overall resilience to environmental stress. This further  contributes to our understanding of algal microbiome dynamics in response to environmental changes.

Bacteria were characterised using the 16S rRNA gene and the community compositions were compared between different parts of the algal thallus (endo-, epi- and rhizomicrobiome). Approximately 2 grams of surface layer sediment surrounding the sampled thalli was placed directly into sterile bags. Water was sampled directly from the environment before stress, directly after stress, and after the recovery period. For the individual mesocosms, water was extracted from the mesocosm via syringe through a valve directly after the stress period. For each treatment, 100 mL of water was filtered in triplicate through a 0.2-μm polycarbonate filter and the filters were then used for downstream analysis. The samples were frozen at -20°C and kept for DNA extraction.

The readme file contains an explanation of each of the variables in the dataset and its measurement unit. #NA =  values not available. Information on how the data were collected and processed can be found in the associated manuscript referenced above.