RegioDiv: Genetic diversity of herbaceous plants in Germany: Achillea millefolium s.l.
Autochthonous seed material of wild species for ecological restoration is produced in accordance with the rules of the German Regiosaatgut system in 22 seed zones (Bucharova et al. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-018-1067-6). The RegioDiv project analysed genetic diversity of more than 30 grassland plant species (grasses, legumes, non-legume herbs) in all seed zones to test how well seed zones represent genetic patterns. Data on spatial patterns of diversity will be used for practical recommendations for species management and seed zone design. We collected appr. 19,000 leaf samples from 28 taxa in 22 seed zones across Germany, which had been subdivided in 72 subregions. Additional samples were available from neighboring countries. In total 14,496 samples underwent ddRAD analysis following Peterson et al. (2012, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0037135) using EcoRI and MspI as restriction enzymes and a selected fragment length of 350-450 bp. Each 1152 samples were sequenced per S4 lane of an Illumina Novaseq 6000 (PE150) with a volume of 2,500 Mio. Sequences, resulting in appr. 2 Mio. Sequences per individual sample. A total of 12,389 samples proved to have a sufficient number of DNA sequences for further analysis. In total 11,762 samples remained after excluding references samples and outgroup species for final data analysis. The number of samples originating in Germany in the final data sets ranged between 89 (Tragopogon orientalis) and 891 (Knautia arvensis), with a mean of 339. This project holds all samples used for Achillea millefolium s.l.