A review of methods for nematode identification

- Free-living or parasitic nematodes are identified thanks to a wide range of methods.
- Morphology or highly innovative tools may be used on single or pooled specimen
- No consensual method exists for nematodes identification as many markers are used.
- Emerging technologies offer a wide range of promising applications for nematologists.
- Available nematode sequenced genomes facilitate the new methods implementation.

Nematodes are non-segmented roundworms found in soil, aquatic environment, plants, or animals. Either useful or pathogenic, they greatly influence environmental equilibrium, human and animal health, as well as plant production. Knowledge on their taxonomy and biology are key issues to answer the different challenges associated to these organisms. Nowadays, most of the nematode taxonomy remains unknown or unclear. Several approaches are available for parasite identification, from the traditional morphology-based techniques to the sophisticated high-throughput sequencing technologies. All these techniques have advantages or drawbacks depending on the sample origin and the number of nematodes to be processed. This review proposes an overview of all newly available methods available to identify known and/or unknown nematodes with a specific focus on emerging high-throughput molecular techniques.