Biomolecular analyses are used to investigate the dynamics of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs), with samples collected during monitoring often analyzed by qPCR and sometimes amplicon and metagenomic sequencing. However, cyanoHAB research and monitoring programs face operational constraints due to the reliance on human resources for sample collections. To address this impediment, a third-generation Environmental...

The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) for studying the ecology and variability of life in the sea is reviewed here in the context of US interagency Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) projects. Much of the information in this paper comes from samples collected within US National Marine Sanctuaries. The field of eDNA is relatively new but growing rapidly, and it has the potential to disrupt current paradigms developed...

Summary Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is an abundant organic sulfur metabolite produced by many phytoplankton species and degraded by bacteria via two distinct pathways with climate‐relevant implications. We assessed the diversity and abundance of bacteria possessing these pathways in the context of phytoplankton community composition over a 3‐week time period spanning September–October, 2014 in Monterey Bay, CA. The dmdA...

Summary A sandwich hybridization assay (SHA) was developed to detect 16S rRNAs indicative of phylogenetically distinct groups of marine bacterioplankton in a 96‐well plate format as well as low‐density arrays printed on a membrane support. The arrays were used in a field‐deployable instrument, the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP). The SHA employs a chaotropic buffer for both cell homogenization and hybridization, thus targ...

Pseudo‐nitzschia australis Frenguelli is a marine pennate diatom associated with the production of domoic acid— a neuroexcitatory amino acid linked to illness and mortality of humans and wildlife. Distinguishing P. australis from its co‐occurring congeners is labor intensive and time consuming because of a requirement for scanning electron microscopy. Here, we apply large‐subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rRNA)‐targeted oligonucleoti...