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.

皮肤拭子法（Skin swabbing）是近年来针对成年两栖动物开发的一种微创DNA采样手段，本研究将其应用于火蝾螈（Salamandra salamandra）幼体的采样测试。研究通过以下三种方式评估采样所得DNA的质量与浓度：① 测定DNA提取物的浓度；② 对线粒体DNA（mtDNA）细胞色素b基因的一段692 bp序列进行测序；③ 对8个多态性核微卫星位点进行基因分型。本研究采用多管法（multiple-tubes approach）计算等位基因脱扣（ADO）与假等位基因（FA）的发生率，以此评估基因型结果的可靠性。本研究将道路致死个体的组织样本DNA提取物设置为阳性对照。研究结果显示，火蝾螈幼体的皮肤拭子采样可获取足量且优质的DNA：测序结果全部成功，未检测到等位基因脱扣或假等位基因现象。本研究首次将该方法应用于两栖动物幼体，结果证实其可作为存在争议的尾鳍剪取法的高效可靠替代方案。