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. 1997 Jan;63(1):186–193. doi: 10.1128/aem.63.1.186-193.1997

Enumeration and Cell Cycle Analysis of Natural Populations of Marine Picoplankton by Flow Cytometry Using the Nucleic Acid Stain SYBR Green I

D Marie, F Partensky, S Jacquet, D Vaulot
PMCID: PMC1389098  PMID: 16535483

Abstract

The novel dye SYBR Green I binds specifically to nucleic acids and can be excited by blue light (488-nm wavelength). Cell concentrations of prokaryotes measured in marine samples with this dye on a low-cost compact flow cytometer are comparable to those obtained with the UV-excited stain Hoechst 33342 (bis-benzimide) on an expensive flow cytometer with a water-cooled laser. In contrast to TOTO-1 and TO-PRO-1, SYBR Green I has the advantage of clearly discriminating both heterotrophic bacteria and autotrophic Prochlorococcus cells, even in oligotrophic waters. As with TOTO-1 and TO-PRO-1, two groups of heterotrophic bacteria (B-I and B-II-like types) can be distinguished. Moreover, the resolution of DNA distribution obtained with SYBR Green I is similar to that obtained with Hoechst 33342 and permits the analysis of the cell cycle of photosynthetic prokaryotes over the whole water column.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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