Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
Applications of Molecular Taxonomy01:20

Applications of Molecular Taxonomy

Molecular taxonomy has revolutionized the understanding and classification of bacteria, providing precise insights into their diversity, evolutionary relationships, and ecological roles. By utilizing molecular techniques such as DNA sequencing and fingerprinting, researchers have made significant strides in various fields related to bacterial studies.Resolving Taxonomic AmbiguitiesMolecular taxonomy has been instrumental in distinguishing closely related bacterial species initially thought to...
Soil Microbial Ecology01:29

Soil Microbial Ecology

Soil microbial ecology is defined by highly diverse, spatially structured communities that drive nutrient cycling, organic matter turnover, and overall ecosystem stability. Although a gram of soil can contain thousands of bacterial and archaeal taxa, the ecological processes they mediate are even more crucial for sustaining terrestrial life.Microhabitats and NichesSoil is a heterogeneous mixture of minerals, organic matter, water, and air. Microbes inhabit distinct microhabitats formed by...
Methods to Assess Microbial Communities01:19

Methods to Assess Microbial Communities

Microbial communities, comprising bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms, inhabit diverse ecosystems and play crucial roles in environmental and biological processes. Their diversity is defined by three main parameters: species richness (the number of distinct species), species abundance (the relative quantity of each species), and species evenness (how uniformly individual species are distributed in various locations). These factors together shape the structure and ecological balance...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Metabarcoding Reveals Fine Scale Patterns of Trophic Resource Use and Partitioning Along Gradients of Land Use and Deer Density in a Multi-Species Ungulate Community.

Ecology and evolution·2025
Same author

Can Amplicon Sequencing Be Replaced by Metagenomics for Biodiversity Inventories?

Molecular ecology resources·2025
Same author

Elusive tropical forest canopy diversity revealed through environmental DNA contained in rainwater.

Science advances·2025
Same author

wholeskim: Utilising Genome Skims for Taxonomically Annotating Ancient DNA Metagenomes.

Molecular ecology resources·2025
Same author

The late rise of sky-island vegetation in the European Alps.

Nature plants·2025
Same author

Wild and domesticated animal abundance is associated with greater late-Holocene alpine plant diversity.

Nature communications·2025
Same journal

Leafcutter Ant Farmers Prevent Loss of Edible Symbiotic Structures by Maintaining Allelic Diversity in Their Multinucleate Fungal Crop.

Molecular ecology·2026
Same journal

Resolving Emergent Patterns in Community Genetics With Environmental DNA.

Molecular ecology·2026
Same journal

Genomic Offsets Predict Survival With Low Accuracy in a Marine Common Garden.

Molecular ecology·2026
Same journal

Differential Immune Responses Correlate With Chytridiomycosis Severity in Italian Crested Newts.

Molecular ecology·2026
Same journal

Demography and Environment Shapes Genetic Variation: Spatiotemporal Genetic Dynamics in Cyclic Voles at Low Latitudes.

Molecular ecology·2026
Same journal

Gut Microbiome-Metabolome Reconfiguration Associates With Phenotypic Plasticity of Daphnia Under Predation Risk.

Molecular ecology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 25, 2026

Compost Microcosms as Microbially Diverse, Natural-like Environments for Microbiome Research in Caenorhabditis elegans
07:19

Compost Microcosms as Microbially Diverse, Natural-like Environments for Microbiome Research in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: September 13, 2022

Tracking earthworm communities from soil DNA.

Friederike Bienert1, Sébastien De Danieli, Christian Miquel

  • 1Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS-UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France.

Molecular Ecology
|January 19, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

DNA metabarcoding and next-generation sequencing offer a faster, more effective method for identifying earthworm species in soil samples. This environmental DNA approach can significantly advance ecological research and soil health assessments.

More Related Videos

Extracting DNA from the Gut Microbes of the Termite (Zootermopsis Angusticollis) and Visualizing Gut Microbes
15:27

Extracting DNA from the Gut Microbes of the Termite (Zootermopsis Angusticollis) and Visualizing Gut Microbes

Published on: May 28, 2007

Extraction of High Molecular Weight Genomic DNA from Soils and Sediments
11:24

Extraction of High Molecular Weight Genomic DNA from Soils and Sediments

Published on: November 10, 2009

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 25, 2026

Compost Microcosms as Microbially Diverse, Natural-like Environments for Microbiome Research in Caenorhabditis elegans
07:19

Compost Microcosms as Microbially Diverse, Natural-like Environments for Microbiome Research in Caenorhabditis elegans

Published on: September 13, 2022

Extracting DNA from the Gut Microbes of the Termite (Zootermopsis Angusticollis) and Visualizing Gut Microbes
15:27

Extracting DNA from the Gut Microbes of the Termite (Zootermopsis Angusticollis) and Visualizing Gut Microbes

Published on: May 28, 2007

Extraction of High Molecular Weight Genomic DNA from Soils and Sediments
11:24

Extraction of High Molecular Weight Genomic DNA from Soils and Sediments

Published on: November 10, 2009

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Earthworms are crucial for ecosystem function and health.
  • Conventional earthworm identification methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a DNA-based method for earthworm species identification from soil.
  • To assess earthworm community diversity using environmental DNA (eDNA).

Main Methods:

  • Created a reference DNA database for 14 French Alps earthworm species.
  • Designed new primer pairs for short DNA sequences (30 and 70 bp).
  • Analyzed extracellular DNA from soil samples using DNA metabarcoding and next-generation sequencing.

Main Results:

  • Successfully identified eight earthworm species from soil samples.
  • DNA-based community identification differentiated between two distinct localities.
  • Results aligned with traditional handsorting inventory methods.

Conclusions:

  • DNA metabarcoding provides an efficient tool for earthworm diversity assessment.
  • Environmental DNA analysis can accelerate ecological research on soil invertebrates.
  • This method shows potential for assessing diverse soil-dwelling animal taxa.