“…Traditionally studies of soil ciliates focused mainly on their morphology, assemblage, ecology, and use in toxicology, but in recent years increasing emphasis is placed on molecular phylogeny, relationships with other microorganisms, and the effects of environmental pollution on soil ciliate community structure. (Liu et al, 2008;Buonanno and Ortenzi, 2010;Ning et al, 2011a;Shao et al, 2014aShao et al, , 2014bGeisen et al, 2016;Lin et al, 2017;Luo et al, 2017;Kosiba et al, 2019;Wanner et al, 2020).…”