M.T.W. Vervoort

TL;DR: A quantitative PCR-based tool for the detection of a consistent part of the soil nematofauna was developed based on a phylum-wide molecular framework consisting of 2,400 full-length SSU rDNA sequences, revealing ecological information about the soil food web that had been partly overlooked.

TL;DR: A phylum-wide SSU rDNA framework was used to identify species-specific DNA motifs and polymerase chain reaction primers were developed with high, identical annealing temperatures, which can be used for the rapid screening of plant material and soil for the presence of one or multiple foliar nematode species.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the spatial distribution of nematodes, which are highly abundant and diverse metazoans in most soil ecosystems, and mapped distribution patterns in twelve apparently homogeneous agricultural fields with equal representation of three soil textures (marine clay, river clay and sandy soil).

TL;DR: It is concluded that the observed changes in nematode assemblages are related to intense mechanical disturbance, green manure and the absence of host plants for obligatory plant-parasitic nematodes, rather than to the release of ITCs.

TL;DR: This first molecular characterisation of numerous basal and supposedly harmless plant parasites as well as their non-parasitic relatives was able to generate a comprehensive molecular framework that allows for the reconstruction of trophic diversification for a complete phylum.