Data from: Age is just a number: No impacts of scat ageing on single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping using a target capture approach

Recent advances in DNA sequencing and genotyping technologies are rapidly
building our capacity to address ecological, evolutionary, and
conservation questions for wildlife. However, wildlife genetic research
increasingly relies on samples containing low quantities and quality of
DNA, such as non‐invasive, archival, and environmental DNA. These samples
present unique methodological challenges; for samples collected in the
wild, it is important to understand the impact of environmental exposure
time or sample ‘age’ on DNA quality and downstream genetic analyses. Here,
we aged koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) scats (from five wild adult
individuals temporarily housed while in veterinary care) under natural
conditions and quantified DNA degradation. We assessed the effect of age
(0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 days) on genetic data quality by measuring the
proportion of missing single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data using
DArTCap, a targeted genotyping methodology hypothesised to tolerate
degraded DNA. Contrary to other studies, we found koala scat age was not a
significant predictor of genotyping quality (i.e., rate of missing SNP
calls) in the first 10 days of environmental exposure. We yielded high
quality data from 10‐day‐old scats, but also low‐quality data from fresh
scats. This study is the first to investigate the effect of scat age on
genotyping success using a targeted approach, and DArTCap specifically.
These findings support the use of targeted genotyping (such as DArTCap)
from scats and provide insights for future research using DNA from
non‐invasive samples. Targeted genotyping may extend the timeframe, from
which accurate data can be obtained from non‐invasive samples, increasing
potential sample sizes and enhancing our ability to address important
questions in population ecology, conservation genetics, and population
management.