Floyd et al. 2002

Floyd R, Abebe E, Papert A, Blaxter M. 2002. Molecular barcodes for soil nematode identification. Molecular Ecology 11: 839-50.

These authors present a detailed description of and theory behind the MOTU concept. This analysis technique uses molecular sequence data to identify taxonomic units, hence the name Molecular Operational Taxonomic Unit. This paper uses the MOTU concept to examine and draw inferences about a collection of nematodes from a Scottish farm, finding high levels of species richness, and demonstrating a set of methods for rapid, inexpensive phylogenetics of a taxonomically-difficult group of animals.