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ABSTRACT Here, we report on the raw and coassembled metatranscriptomes of 39 Lake Erie surface (1.0 m) water samples collected over a 2-day diel period encompassing episodic weather and bloom events. Preliminary taxonomic annotations and read mappings revealed thatMicrocystisspp. accounted for up to ~47% of the transcriptionally active community. 

Biomolecular analyses are used to investigate the dynamics of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs), with samples collected during monitoring often analyzed by qPCR and sometimes amplicon and metagenomic sequencing. However, cyanoHAB research and monitoring programs face operational constraints due to the reliance on human resources for sample collections. To address this impediment, a third-generation Environmental Sample Processor (3G ESP) integrated with a long-range autonomous underwater vehicle (LRAUV) was tested during seasonal blooms of Microcystis in western Lake Erie (WLE) in 2018 and 2019. The LRAUV-3G ESP successfully performed flexible, autonomous sampling across a wide range of cyanoHAB conditions, and results indicated equivalency between autonomous and manual methods. No significant differences were found between LRAUV-3G ESP and manual sample collection and handling methods in the 12 parameters tested. Analyzed parameters included concentrations of total cyanobacteria and microcystin toxin gene via qPCR; relative abundances of bacterial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) from 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing; and community diversity measures from both 16S amplicon and metagenomic sequencing. The LRAUV-3G ESP provided additional sampling capacity and revealed differences between field seasons for bacterial taxa and concentrations of total cyanobacteria and microcystin toxin gene. Metagenomic analysis of multiple microcystin toxin genes corroborated the use of the mcyE gene as a proxy for the genomic potential of WLE cyanoHABs to produce microcystin. Overall, this study provides support for the use of autonomous ‘omics capability in WLE to help expand the spatial and temporal coverage of cyanoHAB monitoring operations. 

Abstract The development of algorithms for remote sensing of water quality (RSWQ) requires a large amount ofin situdata to account for the bio-geo-optical diversity of inland and coastal waters. The GLObal Reflectance community dataset for Imaging and optical sensing of Aquatic environments (GLORIA) includes 7,572 curated hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance measurements at 1 nm intervals within the 350 to 900 nm wavelength range. In addition, at least one co-located water quality measurement of chlorophylla, total suspended solids, absorption by dissolved substances, and Secchi depth, is provided. The data were contributed by researchers affiliated with 59 institutions worldwide and come from 450 different water bodies, making GLORIA thede-factostate of knowledge ofin situcoastal and inland aquatic optical diversity. Each measurement is documented with comprehensive methodological details, allowing users to evaluate fitness-for-purpose, and providing a reference for practitioners planning similar measurements. We provide open and free access to this dataset with the goal of enabling scientific and technological advancement towards operational regional and global RSWQ monitoring.