Harmful algal bloom-forming diatom Pseudo-nitzschia in Narragansett Bay, RI, USA

The goal of this study was to identify the composition of Pseudo-nitzschia assemblages in Narragansett Bay, RI for close to a decade (2008 - 2017). Pseudo-nitzschia are a neurotoxin-producing genus of diatom that cause harmful algal blooms, though species vary in ability to produce toxin. This study used high throughput sequencing of Pseudo-nitzschia-specific 18S-5.8S rDNA internal transcribed spacer region 1 (ITS1) amplicons, a method that can discriminate nearly all known species, on weekly environmental samples collected at the site of the Narragansett Bay Long Term Plankton Time Series.