Seawater sampleswere collected at five locations in Singapore’s
coastal waters (see Fig. 1). Sample locations circumnavigated
Singapore’s coastline, so that microalgae collected represented
as diverse a taxa as possible. Samples were collected from the
water column of 50 cmdepth using a 15 mm-mesh plankton net,
and then stored in cool boxes for transportation to the laboratory.
Sampleswere theninoculated into enrichedmediumf/2 [9]
andWalne’smedium[10]prior toplacementinaphotoincubator
set at 25 1 C, a light intensity of 60 mmol photon s1m2
(as supplied by cool-white fluorescence tubes) and a 12:12 h
dark:light photoperiod for 3 days. Following incubation, microalgae
were isolated via flow cytometric cell sorting.