Advances in molecular detection techniques for red tide algae

This paper reviews the molecular methods for detection of red tide-causing alag species, which ourperform other kinds of approaches because of their advantages in simplicity, speediness, precision and specificity. The molecular techniques can be classified into three categories: the detection based on extraction of DNA, the whole cell hybridization, and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Molecular methods can be extensively applied to many fields, including natural population analysis, daily monitoring of harmful algae, identifying spores and detecting ballast water. The future work should emphasize on how putting the established methods into practice, improving the detection rapidity and sensitivity, and inventing new detection instruments for detection automation.