Marine microorganisms form the foundation of marine food webs and drive biogeochemical cycles in the ocean. Metabarcoding, or amplicon sequencing, has emerged as a widely used and relatively low-cost approach to examine the diversity of microbial communities, primarily by sequencing regions of the 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA genes for prokaryotes and eukaryotes respectively. Due to its relatively low cost and complexity, metabarcoding will likely remain the most widely used ‘omics measurement in marine systems.
As highlighted by the 2020 OCB workshop on omics intercalibration and standardization, efforts towards metabarcoding standardization and intercalibration remain limited in both size and scope. Intercalibration is necessary to improve data quality and integrate data among programs. Furthermore, increased understanding and confidence in translating metabarcoding data into estimates of biomass (e.g., cells or carbon) by adding known quantities of foreign DNA, or internal standards, may significantly improve our knowledge of microbial standing stocks.
This working group will perform an international intercomparison of metabarcoding results from standardized material with the goal of developing guidance on best practices for lab procedures and data analysis. To help build capacity, this activity seeks to engage a small number of participants without prior experience in this area. Necessary training in data analysis will be provided. The group will collectively develop and share educational and training materials including wet-lab protocols and bioinformatic workflows. Applications and advancements in metabarcoding will be featured in public bi-monthly webinars.
Support is also provided by BioGeoSCAPES through an AccelNet grant from the National Science Foundation.
→ Sign up and nominate speakers for the bi-monthly webinar series. Self-nominations are encouraged.
→ Coming soon! Application to join the working group. Participants will be expected to prepare and analyze samples for 16S or 18S sequences and attend a synthesis meeting either in-person or virtually. Detailed protocols and workflows are expected to be made publicly available.
February 2026: Join us at OSM26. Information will be available at the BioGeoSCAPES Town Hall (TH33B) and OCB booth (#45). Organizers will be available at the OCB booth (TBD) and an informal meeting to address any questions is being planned (TBD).
March 31, 2026: Deadline to apply to join the working group.
Spring 2026: Bi-monthly webinar series begins.
Summer 2026 - Intercalibration materials sent to participating labs.
2027 - In person synthesis meeting (date and location TBD).
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Funding for the Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry Project Office is provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The OCB Project Office is housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.