Disentangling the role of biotic and abiotic factors in shaping microbial biogeographic patterns in the large spatial scale ocean

Across large oceanic spatial scales, the mechanisms governing microbial community composition remain poorly understood, particularly regarding the influence of biotic factors. In this study, samples were collected over a 3772.55-km transect in the Western Pacific surface waters, with 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing employed to elucidate the assembly processes and drivers of microbial communities. Both eukaryotic (EM) and prokaryotic microbial (PM) communities exhibited a significant distance-decay relationship throughout the survey, although their assembly mechanisms differed. Biotic factors played a pivotal role in shaping the biogeographical patterns of both EM and PM communities, indicating that cross-domain microbial interactions significantly affect each other's distribution. Furthermore, the stability of the co-occurrence network was more strongly influenced by cross-domain microbial relationships than by keystone taxa. These findings advance our understanding of the mechanisms and biogeographical patterns sustaining microbial diversity across large oceanic spatial scales.