From Microscopy to Genomic Approach in Soil Biodiversity Assessment.

Soil biota represents a major component of the earth's biodiversity and for over 200 years, the microscopy approach was the only way to explore it. In the last decade, the DNA-based technique has been adopted in soil ecology. Due to the rapid development of cutting-edge technology, the field is transitioning from barcoding individuals to metabarcoding communities. With the advent of next-generation sequencing and a rapid decline in sequencing cost, it has become feasible to assess soil biodiversity at species level. This review article summarizes current approaches in soil biodiversity research along with their advantages and disadvantages.