Diagnostic PCR can be used to illuminate meiofaunal diets and trophic relationships.

ABSTRACT: Analysis of the meiofaunal food web is hampered because few prey have features that persist long enough in a predator's digestive tract to allow identification to species. Hence, at least for platyhelminth predators, direct observations of prey preference are almost nonexistent, and where they occur, prey identification is often limited to phylum. Studies using an in vitro approach are rare because they are extremely time-consuming and are subject to the criticism that predators removed from their natural environment may exhibit altered behaviors. Although PCR-based approaches have achieved wide application in food-web analysis, their application to meiofaunal flatworms suffers from a number of limitations. Most importantly, the microscopic size of both the predator and prey does no

SUBMITTER: Maghsoud H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4110740 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature