Pelagic copepods play an important role in the marine food web. However, a full understanding of the ecological status of this zooplankton group depends on the careful study of their natural diets. In previous PCR-bas...
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Pelagic copepods play an important role in the marine food web. However, a full understanding of the ecological status of this zooplankton group depends on the careful study of their natural diets. In previous PCR-based copepod diet studies, we found many apostome ciliates that live symbiotically under the exoskeleton of the copepods, and their sequences were often over-represented in the 18S rRNA gene （18S rDNA） libraries. As a first step to address this issue, we designed three apostome ciliate 18S rDNA blocking primers, and tested their blocking efficiency against apostome ciliate 18S rDNA under various PCR conditions. Using a semi-quantitative PCR method, we optimized the conditions to efficiently amplify the 18S rDNA of the prey while simultaneously excluding the symbiotic apostome ciliates. This technique will facilitate PCR-based diet studies of copepods and other zooplankton in their natural environments.
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