Identification of Algae Species Using Advanced Molecular Techniques

ABSTRACT

Abstract Molecular techniques for the detection of organisms, such as algae species in aquatic environments,have become the most attractive tools for typical laboratory approaches. These techniques provide moreaccurate and faster ways of identifying species compared to conventional methods based on microscopiccounting and culture tools. The techniques of molecular biology are mostly used when numerous algal speciesthat are present in very low amounts require identification. These tools use either entire cells or nucleic acidcell-free formats. For the entire cells, several molecular methods could be used, for example, fluorescence insitu hybridization (FISH) and microscope-based enumeration assays. For the nucleic acid cell-free formats, themost commonly used tools are the sandwich hybridization assay (SHA), biosensors, quantitative PCR, real-timePCR, and microarrays. These techniques can be used individually or in combination with one or morefunctional laboratory tools, such as lab-on-a-chip (namely, a single incorporated system) or next-generationsequencing (NGS) to create a much higher data output. Moreover, this review integrates additional methodsthat promote the performance of molecular techniques. These approaches provide a high capability foridentifying algal species, such as platforms and nano-bioengineered probes, magnetic systems for separationmolecules, and solid-phase hybridization. Additionally, hybridization PCR and isothermal amplification toolscan improve the hybridization of probes with DNA to enhance the amplification of nucleic acids. Lastly, thisreview discusses a field case study considered as one of the few examples of monitoring harmful algal blooms(HABs) and closes the discussion with concluding remarks and future directions.