Development of a qualitative method for identifying species of the diatom genus Skeletonema and elucidation of the physiological and ecological characteristics of each species

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26450248
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: Fukuoka Women's University
• Principal Investigator: Yamada Machiko 福岡女子大学, 国際文理学部, 教授 (30438303)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: Skeletonema属各種 / リアルタイムPCR法 / プライマー / rDNA / 同定 / 定量 / 安価 / 簡便

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Diatoms of the genus Skeletonema are important primary producers in aquatic ecosystems; some adversely impact Nori culture. In 2005 and 2007 Sarno et al. classified each of 11 Skeletonema species and established a method to distinguish them. Their method is reliable except for classification of S. dohrnii and S. marinoi, which are cryptic species; however, it is complicated, time-consuming, expensive, and non-quantitative. To make a better method, we developed a method based on quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR); the rDNA primers were designed for the ten species that occur in Japanese coastal waters. The use of qPCR allowed us to identify not only vegetative cells in the water column but also resting cells in the sediments. We successfully identified dominant species found by conventional methods as well as less abundant co-occurring species. Our experience has been that qPCR is most frequently the best method for identifying Skeletonema species in both the water column and sediment.

Free Research Field

水産学　水界生態学