10.5061/DRYAD.DQ335FF
Kurkjian, Helen
University of California, Berkeley
Kurkjian, Helen M.
University of California, Berkeley
Data from: The Metapopulation Microcosm Plate: a modified 96-well plate
for use in microbial metapopulation experiments
Dryad
dataset
2018
microcosm
Pseudomonas syringae
corridors
metapopulation
microtiter plate
tool
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1601762
2018-10-30T19:21:48Z
2018-10-30T19:21:48Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.13116
600749 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1. Researchers in many sub-fields of ecology and evolutionary biology test
hypotheses relating to metapopulation dynamics and landscape spatial
structure. Key aspects of these hypotheses are often (a) large numbers of
subpopulations and dispersal corridors and (b) their positions relative to
each other. Testing such spatial hypotheses using traditional lab
equipment and methods can be impractical, unwieldy, expensive, or
impossible. 2. The Metapopulation Microcosm Plate (MMP) overcomes these
difficulties. This device resembles a 96-well microtiter plate, but
contains dispersal corridors between wells that can be modified in their
spatial position to create various artificial landscapes, each with up to
96 habitat patches and hundreds of non-intersecting dispersal corridors of
varying lengths. The device can be filled with nutrient broth and used to
culture microbial metapopulations. 3. Here I describe how MMPs are
designed, assembled, sterilized, and filled and demonstrate that MMPs can
remain water tight and sterile with minimal evaporation for 5-7 days. 4.
MMPs can be used to test many spatial hypotheses that have previously been
prohibitively difficult to test. Further, by incorporating individual
behavioral responses to within-patch conditions, MMPs can incorporate
greater realism than do directed pipetting or other artificial dispersal
methods.
Kurkjian_2018_MMP_MethodsZipped folder containing all raw data, processed
data files, and code for analyses and figures for Kurkjian, H. M. 2018.
The Metapopulation Microcosm Plate: A modified 96-well plate for use in
microbial metapopulation experiments. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.