Diversity patterns of uncultured Haptophytes unravelled by pyrosequencing                 in Naples Bay
Haptophytes are a key phylum of marine protists, including ~300                 described morphospecies and 80 morphogenera. We used 454-pyrosequencing on large                 subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) fragments to assess the diversity from size                 fractioned plankton samples collected in the Bay of Naples. One group-specific                 primer set targeting an overlapping region of the LSU rDNA D1/D2 region was used to                 amplify Haptophyte sequences from nucleic acid extracts (total DNA or RNA) of two                 size fractions (0.8-3 or 3-20 µm) and two sampling depths (subsurface, at 1m, or                 deep-chlorophyll-maximum (DCM) at 23m).