Data from: Using seedling and pericarp tissues to determine maternal parentage of dispersed valley oak recruits

The spatial pattern of established seedlings yields valuable information about variation in fecundity, dispersal, and spatial structure of distributed recruits, but separating maternal and paternal contributions in monoecious species has been hampered by the “2 parent” problem. It is now possible to determine the maternal parentage of established recruits with genetic assay of maternally derived tissues of the seed or fruit, but the DNA of weathered maternal tissues often yields unreliable genotypes, reducing the practical range of such assay. We develop a mixed assay of seedling and seed (pericarp) tissues and illustrate it with distributed recruits of California valley oak (Quercus lobata Née). Detailed analysis indicates correct maternal assignment rates of canopy patch recruits of 56% (seedling assay only) versus 94% (mixed assay). For open patch recruits, maternal assignment rates were less than 50% (seedling assay only) versus 91% (mixed assay). The strategy of choice is to use seedling genotypes to identify a small set of credible parental candidates and then deploy 3–4 well-chosen pericarp/endocarp loci to reduce that list to a single obvious maternal candidate. The increase in the number of recruits available for subsequent analysis is pronounced, increasing precision and statistical power for subsequent inference.定居幼苗的空间格局可为散布补充个体的繁殖力、扩散能力以及空间结构的变异提供宝贵信息，但在雌雄同株物种中区分母本与父本贡献却受限于"双亲"难题。如今可通过对种子或果实的母源组织开展遗传检测（genetic assay），确定定居补充幼苗的母本亲缘关系（maternal parentage），但老化的母本组织的DNA往往无法得到可靠的基因型，限制了该检测方法的实际应用范围。本研究开发了一种幼苗与种子（果皮，pericarp）组织的联合检测方法，并以加州河谷栎（Quercus lobata Née）的散布补充幼苗为例展示了该方法的应用。详细分析结果显示，冠层斑块补充幼苗的母本正确判定率在仅使用幼苗检测时为56%，而采用联合检测时可达94%；对于开阔斑块补充幼苗，仅用幼苗检测的母本正确判定率不足50%，联合检测时则为91%。最优策略为先利用幼苗基因型筛选出少量可信度较高的亲本候选集，随后通过3~4个经过优选的果皮/内果皮（endocarp）基因座，将候选集缩减至唯一明确的母本候选个体。可用于后续分析的补充幼苗数量将显著提升，同时为后续推断提升了分析精度与统计效力。