“…Numerous qualitative and quantitative studies focused on the diversity of ciliates have been performed since then; these studies have used a variety of techniques, including restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP; Regensbogenova et al, 2004a , Tymensen et al, 2012b ), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE; Regensbogenova et al, 2004b , McEwan et al, 2005 ; de la Fuente et al, 2009 ; Belanche et al, 2010a , Kittelmann and Janssen, 2011 ), real-time PCR (qPCR; Sylvester et al, 2004 ; Skillman et al, 2006 ; Belanche et al, 2010a , Kittelmann and Janssen, 2011 ), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH; Xia et al, 2014 ) and next generation sequencing ( Kittelmann et al, 2013 , 2015 ; Ishaq and Wright, 2014 ; Moon-van der Staay et al, 2014 ).…”