Microbiome response to cadmium and copper in Steatoda grossa (Theridiidae) spiders

The dataset associated with the publication titled "Microbiome Response to Cadmium and Copper Ingestion in the Spider Steatoda grossa (Theridiidae): Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Metal Intoxication” was funded by NCN.

The project presents data on the quantitative and qualitative changes in the microbiome of the opisthosoma of Steatoda grossa (Theridiidae) spiders in response to copper and cadmium exposure through prey (Drosophila hydei).

The collected data cover:

• Metal concentrations in spider bodies after short-term (4 weeks) and long-term (12 months) exposure.
• The composition of the opisthosoma microbiome in control individuals.
• Characteristics of changes in the microbiome’s qualitative and quantitative structure due to the presence of metals in the diet, depending on the duration of exposure.
• Analysis of species diversity in the microbiome in relation to the type of metal used for diet contamination.

DNA was isolated using the QIAamp DNA Microbiome Kit (Qiagen). Genomic DNA (gDNA) was further purified with the Monarch Genomic DNA Purification Kit (NEB). Its quality was checked using D1000 Screen Tapes and the Tape Station 2200 (Agilent). DNA libraries were prepared following Illumina’s 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation protocol. Amplification was performed with KAPA HiFi HotStart ReadyMix (Roche) on a SureCycler 8800 (Agilent). Library quality and quantity were assessed with D1000 Screen Tapes (Tape Station 2200, Agilent) and Qubit dsDNA High Sensitivity Kit (Thermo Fisher). Libraries were pooled in equimolar ratios and sequenced (2 × 250) on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Raw sequence data are available in the NCBI SRA database under BioProject accession number PRJNA1180465.

The sequences were assembled into contigs and processed using Mothur 1.44 software. They were filtered for size, quality, homopolymer length, and nucleotide ambiguity, then aligned to the SILVA 1.38 database.