Despite the great ecological relevance of the soil community, insight into molecular processes underlying the ecology and evolution of soil invertebrates is largely unknown. Collembola (springtails) are important detritivorous hexapods that inhabit the soil and its litter layer. Orchesella cincta is an obligate sexually reproducing species and populations live in the soil litter layer feeding on decaying organic material. O. cincta populations living in metal contaminated areas, such as mining sites, have evolved tolerance to heavy metals.

Further details about Orchesella cincta can be obtained from the genome portal (www.collembolomics.nl) at the Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Picture credit: Andy Murray Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons (Image source)

Taxonomy ID 48709

Data source European Nucleotide Archive

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