Development of a dinoflagellate-oriented PCR primer set leads to detection of picoplanktonic dinoflagellates from Long Island Sound.

We developed dinoflagellate-specific 18S rRNA gene primers. PCR amplification using these oligonucleotides for a picoplanktonic DNA sample from Long Island Sound yielded 24 clones, and all but one of these clones were dinoflagellates primarily belonging to undescribed and Amoebophrya-like lineages. These results highlight the need for a systematic investigation of picodinoflagellate diversity in both coastal and oceanic ecosystems.