Brassavola nodosa - Allozyme data - PVR & HEF pops & reference LIB pop

Samples were collected in the field and analyzed genetically in the lab at the University of Georgia

Brassavola nodosa - Locations of populations

GPS data collected in the field

Tulasnellaceae_58s

Alignment of Tulasnellaceae 5.8S used for inferring the phylogeny. The file is in PHYLIP format

Tulasnellaceae_ITS

Alignment of Tulasnellaceae sequences spanning ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 used in analysis of molecular variation. The alignment is in FASTA format

Sebacinales_58s

Alignment of Sebacinales 5.8S used for inferring phylogeny. The file is in phylip format

cpDNA_alignment

FASTA file containing aligned and concatenated chloroplast DNA sequences used in analysis of chloroplast genetic variation. The file contains 248 sequences of 1370 base pairs. Each sequence header lists the population ("POP") followed by a unique sample identifier ("SAMPLE")

ASCO_FASTAS_ALIGNED_58S_OPTSIL

Alignment of 5.8S sequences corresponding to ascomycetes used in clustering analysis by OPTSIL

Data from: Relative importance of pollen and seed dispersal across a Neotropical mountain landscape for an epiphtytic orchid.

Populations of many species are isolated within narrow elevation bands of Neotropical mountain habitat, and how well dispersal maintains genetic connectivity is unknown. We asked whether genetic structure of an epiphytic orchid, Epidendrum firmum, corresponds to gaps between Costa Rican mountain ranges, and how these gaps influence pollen and seed flow. We predicted that significant genetic structure exists among mountain ranges due to different colonization histories and limited gene flow. Furthermore, we predicted that pollen movement contributes more to gene flow than seeds because seeds are released into strong winds perpendicular to the narrow northwest-southeast species distribution, while the likely pollinators are strong fliers. Individuals from 12 populations and three mountain ranges were genotyped with nuclear microsatellites (nDNA) and chloroplast sequences (cpDNA). Genetic diversity was high for both markers, while nDNA genetic structure was low (FSTn = 0.020) and cpDNA structure was moderate (FSTc = 0.443). Significant cpDNA barriers occurred within and among mountain ranges, but nDNA barriers were not significant after accounting for geographic distance. Consistent with these contrasting patterns of genetic structure, pollen contributes substantially more to gene flow among populations than seed (mp/ms = 46). Pollinators mediated extensive gene flow, eroding nDNA colonization footprints, while seed flow was comparatively limited, possibly due to directional prevailing winds across linearly distributed populations. Dispersal traits alone may not accurately inform predictions about gene flow or genetic structure, supporting the need for research into the potentially crucial role of pollinators and landscape context in gene flow among isolated populations

Data from: Highly diverse and spatially heterogeneous mycorrhizal symbiosis in a rare epiphyte is unrelated to broad biogeographic or environmental features

Symbiotic interactions are common in nature. In dynamic or degraded environments, the ability to associate with multiple partners (i.e. broad specificity) may enable species to persist through fluctuations in the availability of any particular partner. Understanding how species interactions vary across landscapes is necessary to anticipate direct and indirect consequences of environmental degradation on species conservation. We asked whether mycorrhizal symbiosis by populations of a rare epiphytic orchid (Epidendrum firmum) is related to geographic or environmental heterogeneity. The latter would suggest that interactions are governed by environmental conditions rather than historic isolation of populations and/or mycorrhizal fungi. We used DNA-based methods to identify mycorrhizal fungi from eleven E. firmum populations in Costa Rica. We used molecular and phylogenetic analyses to compare associations. Epidendrum firmum exhibited broad specificity, associating with diverse mycorrhizal fungi, including six Tulasnellaceae molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), five Sebacinales MOTUs and others. Notably, diverse mycorrhizal symbioses formed in disturbed pasture and roadside habitats. Mycorrhizal fungi exhibited significant similarity within populations (spatial and phylogenetic autocorrelation) and significant differences among populations (phylogenetic community dissimilarity). However, mycorrhizal symbioses were not significantly associated with biogeographic or environmental features. Such unexpected heterogeneity among populations may result from complex combinations of fine-scale environmental factors and macro-evolutionary patterns of change in mycorrhizal specificity. Thus, E. firmum exhibits broad specificity and the potential for opportunistic associations with diverse fungi. We suggest that these characteristics could confer symbiotic assurance when mycorrhizal fungi are stochastically available, which may be crucial in dynamic or disturbed habitats such as tropical forest canopies

Data from: Phylogenomic analyses of Sabal (Arecaceae) species relationships using targeted sequence capture

With the increasing availability of high-throughput sequencing, phylogenetic analyses are no longer constrained by the limited availability of a few loci. Here, we describe a sequence capture methodology, which we used to collect data for analyses of diversification within Sabal (Arecaceae), a palm genus native to the south-eastern USA, Caribbean, Bermuda and Central America. RNA probes were developed and used to enrich DNA samples for putatively low copy nuclear genes and the plastomes for all Sabal species and two outgroup species. Sequence data were generated on an Illumina MiSeq sequencer and target sequences were assembled using custom workflows. Both coalescence and supermatrix analyses of 133 nuclear genes were used to estimate species trees relationships. Plastid genomes were also analysed, yielding generally poor resolution with regard to species relationships. Species relationships described in both nuclear gene and plastome sequences largely reflect the biogeography of the group and, to a lesser extent, previous morphology-based hypotheses. Beyond the biological implications, this research validates a high-throughput methodology for generating a large number of genes for coalescence-based phylogenetic analyses in plant lineages