5
Two primer pairs were used for qPCR: primer 178 pair F: CCATGAAGTCGGAATCGCTAG/R: ACTCCCATGGGTGTGACGG 179 (Corless et al., 2000), which binds specifically to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of all 180 bacteria, including cyanobacteria, and primer pair F: 181 GGTGATCCTGCCAGTAGTCATATGCTTG/R: 182 GATCCTTCCGCAGGTTCACCTACGGAAACC, which binds specifically to the 183 18S rDNA gene sequence of eukaryotic microalgae.