Using microsatellites as markers to explore genetic variation in Ceratodon purpureus

Samples were collected with tweezers, with each sample containing 5-10 shoots. Samples will be used to survey the genetic variation in these mosses in the Antarctic. Notes about the dataset: Random, medium and fine refer to the scale of sampling used.

Random samples were a single sample (tweezer pinch) of moss was taken from that GPS point. Medium scale samples used a 20 x 20 cm quadrat to collect samples at each of the corners and the centre of the quadrat, with a total of five samples for the GPS position. For fine scale samples, a small clump of shoots, with approximately 2 cm square of shoot tips each, were collected, so once again were only a single collection per position, except for the fine scale sampling at Robinson's Ridge, in which 25 samples were taken within a 5 x 5 cm quadrat.

M8 marker etc. refer to various markers within or around the moss beds from previous or ongoing studies (by other researchers). These were recorded as additional guides for relocating sample sites if need be. 'Z pattern' refers to the order of sample collection within the quadrat. The fields in this dataset are: Sample Number Station Species Location Latitude Longitude Sampling

Notes

Quadrats Sites Two new spreadsheets were added in October, 2007. The following notes apply to these spreadsheets. 'metadata windmill is.xls' 'metadata all Ceratodon genotypes.csv' Quadrat and independent labels are used in some instances instead of 'fine, medium and random' that have been previously used. Quadrat and independent are equivalent to the medium and random sampling in previous spreadsheets.

Fine scale samples weren't genotyped. Each of the five columns F-J (in both spreadsheets, in 'metadata windmill is.xls' it is the 'genotypes' sheet) are a different microsatellite locus for the moss Ceratodon purpureus (e.g. CEPU105), with the numbers in each row indicating the microsatellite allele or genotype as the length in DNA base pairs in that sample. Multilocus genotype ('metadata windmill is.xls' spreadsheet, 'genotypes and GPS' worksheet) is the combination of each of the 5 microsatellite alleles, if two samples share the same 5 alleles they have the same multilocus genotype.

The GenAlEx program (this is the input for a population genetics program) gives a letter for genotypes present in more than one sample, and a number for genotypes only present in one sample, so 'E' is a very common multilocus genotype in this data set. In February 2011, two more documents were added. A csv spreadsheet detailing locations of mosses found in 2005, and a dating word document.