Molecular detection of bioluminescent dinoflagellates in surface waters of the Patagonian shelf during early austral summer 2008.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the distribution of bioluminescent dinoflagellates in the Patagonian Shelf region using "universal" PCR primers for the dinoflagellate luciferase gene. Luciferase gene sequences and single cell PCR tests, in conjunction with taxonomic identification by microscopy, allowed us to identify and quantify bioluminescent dinoflagellates. We compared these data to coincidental discrete optical measurements of stimulable bioluminescence intensity. Molecular detection of the luciferase gene showed that bioluminescent dinoflagellates were widespread across the majority of the Patagonian Shelf region. Their presence was comparatively underestimated by optical bioluminescence measurements, whose magnitude was affected by interspecific differences in bioluminescence intensity and by the

SUBMITTER: Valiadi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4053353 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature