• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2009

In soil and sediment environment, microorganisms play major roles in biochemical cycles of ecological significant elements. Because of its ecological significance, microbial diversity and community structure information are useful as indexes for assessing the quality of subsurface ecological environment and bioremediation. To achieve more accurate assessment, it is requested to gain sufficient yield and purity of DNA extracted from various soil and sediment samples. Although there have been a large number of basic researches regarding soil and sediment DNA extraction methods, little guideline information is given in literature when choosing optimal DNA extraction methods for various purposes such as environmental ecology impact assessment and bioremediation capability evaluation. In this study, we performed a thorough literature review to compare the characteristics of the current DNA extraction methods from soil and sediment samples, and discussed about considerations when selecting and applying DNA extraction methods for environmental impact assessment and bioremediation capability evaluation. This review suggested that one approach is not enough to gain the suitable quantity and yield of DNA for assessing microbial diversity, community structure and population dynamics, and that a careful attention has to be paid for selecting an optimal method for individual environmental purpose.