FISHing for ciliates: Catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization for the detection of planktonic freshwater ciliates

Abstract

Planktonic ciliate species form multiple trophic guilds and are central components of freshwater food webs. Progress in molecular analytical tools has opened new insight into ciliate assemblages. However, high and variable 18S rDNA copy numbers, typical for ciliates, make reliable quantification by amplicon sequencing extremely difficult. For an exact determination of abundances, the classical morphology-based quantitative protargol staining is still the method of choice. Morphotype analyses, however, are time consuming and need speci Show more