Biomass estimation of the terrestrial ecotoxicological species Folsomia candida (Collembola) using a real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The abundance and growth of the Folsomia candida soil arthropod have been widely used to assess the environmental impact of a range of soil pollutants, and increasing concerns about environmental pollution require advanced and rapid methods to estimate ecological toxicity. Here, we developed a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based assay for determining the biomass of F. candida. Prior to DNA extraction, an appropriate amount of an artificial sequence was spiked into the test samples, allowing us to assess the extraction efficiency used for normalisation. We designed primers based on the sequencing information of the nuclear RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) genes of F. candida. Assays were performed on samples containing a different number of individuals at the same body length (individually same biomass; same age) and samples containing the same number of individuals at a different body length (individually different biomass; different age). Biomass was estimated from the body lengths of collembolan samples. For both genes, DNA quantity showed a significant linear relationship between increased collembolan numbers and the estimated biomass; DNA quantity in different ages of collembolans showed a significant correlation with body length and a linear relationship with the estimated biomass. We believe that this rapid and accurate technique could be used to detect and quantify soil animals and thus would improve ecotoxicological testing.