Data from: Skin swabbing of amphibian larvae yields sufficient DNA for efficient sequencing and reliable microsatellite genotyping

Skin swabbing, a minimally invasive DNA sampling method recently developed
on adult amphibians, was tested on larvae of fire salamanders (Salamandra
salamandra). The quality and quantity of the sampled DNA was evaluated by
(i) measuring DNA concentration in DNA extracts, (ii) sequencing part of
the mtDNA cytochrome b gene (692 bp) and (iii) genotyping eight
polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci. The multiple-tubes approach was
used for calculating allelic dropout (ADO) and false allele (FA) rates to
evaluate the reliability of the genotypes. DNA extracts from tissue
samples of road-killed individuals were included in the study as positive
controls. Our results showed that skin swabs of fire salamander larvae can
provide DNA in sufficient quantity and quality, as sequencing was
successful and no allelic dropouts or false alleles were detected. This
method, tested for the first time on amphibian larvae, has proven to be an
efficient and reliable alternative to the controversial tail fin clipping
procedure.