title: Cold-water coral microbiomes (Paramuricea placomus) from Baltimore Canyon
design: In this study, five samples of Paramuricea placomus were collected using a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) in Baltimore Canyon in the Mid-Atlantic Bight.  The site, sampled during a research cruise in September 2012, was a flat plateau with a depth range of 379-382 m, water temperature of 5.8 – 6.0 °C, and salinity of 35.0.  Four of the samples (NF12.19Q2, NF12.19Q5, NF12.19Q6 and NF12.19Q7) were collected within one meter of each other without repositioning the ROV.  The ROV was moved a short distance away (2 to 3 meters) to collect NF12.19Q1.  Small pieces of each coral colony (5-15 cm) were removed.  All coral colonies had adult galatheid squat lobster (Eumunida picta) associates, except NF12.19Q2, which hosted several galatheids that were too small to identify.  Specimen NF12.19Q1 was a larger colony, with a dark purple stalk and mainly yellow polyps, in contrast to the other four specimens, which had much paler, lavender stalks, and more variegated yellow and lavender polyps.  Microbial community DNA was extracted from each sample and then quantified.  The DNA was screened by PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene using primers Eco8F (5′-AGAGTTTGATCCTGGCTCAG) and 1492R (5′-GGTTACCTTGTTACGACTT), and then amplified using barcoded primers targeting the V4-V5 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene:  V4-forward (5′ AYTGGGYDTAAAGNG) and V5-reverse (5′ CCGTCAATTYYTTTRAGTTT).  The amplicons then underwent 454 pyrosequencing using Titanium FLX chemistry.  The following metadata are associated with this sample:    #SampleID NF12.19Q5  BarcodeSequence TACGAGTATG  LinkerPrimerSequence AYTGGGYDTAAAGNG  ReversePrimer CCGTCAATTYYTTTRAGTTT  Plate prim1  Species Paramuricea  OceanBasin Atlantic  Location Baltimore Canyon  Temperature (°C) 5.8  Depth (m) 381  Salinity 35  Latitude 38_09.0771  Longitude 73_50.2636