Whole Nematode Community Analysis: nematodes will be separated from soil, counted under the microscope and a subset of nematodes (including beneficial bacterial feeding, fungal feeding, omnivorous, predatory and plant parasitic groups) identified to genus for subsequent calculation of soil health indices.
Plant Parasitic Nematode Analysis: nematodes are separated from soil using the sugar centrifugation method, counted under the microscope and identified to genus.
Plant Parasitic Nematode Quantification by Real Time PCR (qPCR): nematodes will be separated from soil, after which their DNA will be extracted and numbers determined using qPCR with species specific primers. This method is only available for ring nematode (Mesocriconema xenoplax), lesion nematode (Pratylenchus vulnus) and root knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita). We can also determine species for other plant parastitic nematodes using other molecular methods (email for details).