%0 Journal Article %J Molecular Ecology Notes %D 2006 %T Development of taxon-specific markers for high-throughput screening of microbial-feeding nematodes %A Jones, K.L. %A Todd, T.C. %A Herman, M.A. %K 18S rRNA %K 5′ nuclease assaym %K Nematoda %K real-time PCR %K Taqman %X In an effort to assess the taxonomic identity of large-scale samplings of nematodes from the Konza Tallgrass Prairie, we sequenced a portion of the 18S rRNA gene and its associated internally transcribed spacer (ITS1) from 74 nematodes encompassing four taxonomic families. From these sequences, we have developed a series of molecular probes to distinguish 16 distinct microbivorous nematode taxa. Using a combination of low power microscopy and taxon-specific real-time probes, the 74 nematodes were correctly assigned to their respective taxonomic groups. This optimized method provides a high-throughput assay to determine nematode identities across larger data sets. %B Molecular Ecology Notes %V 6 %P 712 -714 %G eng %M KNZ001101 %R 10.1111/j.1471-8286.2006.01319.x