Abstract This study reviews the available molecular methods
and new high-throughput technologies for their practical
use in the molecular detection, quantification, and diversity
assessment of microalgae. Molecular methods applied to other
groups of organisms can be adopted for microalgal studies
because they generally detect universal biomolecules, such as
nucleic acids or proteins. These methods are primarily related
to species detection and discrimination among various microalgae.
Among current molecular methods, some molecular
tools are highly valuable for small-scale detection [e.g.,
single-cell polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative
real-time PCR (qPCR), and biosensors], whereas others are
more useful for large-scale, high-throughput detection [e.g.,
terminal restriction length polymorphism, isothermal nucleic
acid sequence-based amplification, loop-mediated isothermal
amplification, microarray, and next generation sequencing
(NGS) techniques]. Each molecular technique has its own
strengths in detecting microalgae, but they may sometimes
have limitations in terms of detection of other organisms.
Among current technologies, qPCR may be considered the
best method for molecular quantification of microalgae. Metagenomic
microalgal diversity can easily be achieved by 454
pyrosequencing rather than by the clone library method.
Current NGS, third and fourth generation technologies pave
the way for the high-throughput detection and quantification