Algal blooms, here of the dinoflagellate Noctiluca, can cover vast areas of the ocean.
Molecular Systematics and Ecology of Phytoplankton
Molecular biological methods offer new and exciting possibilities in the field of marine biology. Scientific questions about the phylogeny and biodiversity of major groups of phytoplankton could be answered by these techniques, as well as the problem of defining a species and its range at the molecular level. Applications of these methods are, for example, the development of molecular probes and markers for a fast and easy detection system of toxic phytoplankton species and for estimating marine biodiversity for baseline studies. Here, the combination of molecular probes with sophisticated techniques like flow cytometry and DNA microarrays makes it possible to analyse a huge number of samples in a short time and in great detail.
With such an "early-warning-system" the development of an algal bloom could be detected before its critical point and huge economic loss for the fisheries industry could possibly be prevented.
The search for important genes that are, for example, involved in toxin production or adaptation to specific environmental conditions, is another important aspect of the group's work.