Background Microbial inhabitants of soils are important to ecosystem and planetary
functions, yet there are large gaps in our knowledge of their diversity and ecology. The …

Soil harbors a vast expanse of unidentified microbes, termed as microbial dark matter,
presenting an untapped reservoir of microbial biodiversity and genetic resources, but has …

Direct extraction and characterization of microbial community DNA through PCR amplicon
surveys and metagenomics has revolutionized the study of environmental microbiology and …

Soils sustain an immense diversity of microbes, which, to a large extent, remains
unexplored. A range of novel methods, most of which are based on rRNA and rDNA …

Despite recognition of the importance of soil bacteria to terrestrial ecosystem functioning
there is little consensus on the factors regulating belowground biodiversity. Here we present …

The methodical developments in the fields of molecular biology and analytical chemistry
significantly increased the level of detail that we achieve when exploring soils and their …

Microbial populations in the soil are critical in our lives. The soil microbiome helps to grow
our food, nourishing and protecting plants, while also providing important ecological …

Soil is one of the most complex and challenging environments for microbiologists. In fact,
although it contains the largest microbial diversity on the planet, the majority of these …

Soil microbial communities contain the highest level of prokaryotic diversity of any
environment, and metagenomic approaches involving the extraction of DNA from soil can …

Soil microbial communities directly affect soil functionality through their roles in the cycling of
soil nutrients and carbon storage. Microbial communities vary substantially in space and …