Good-Enough RFLP Matcher (GERM) program

Ian A Dickie; Peter G Avis; David J McLaughlin; Peter B Reich

doi:10.1007/s00572-003-0225-x

Good-Enough RFLP Matcher (GERM) program

Mycorrhiza. 2003 Jun;13(3):171-2. doi: 10.1007/s00572-003-0225-x. Epub 2003 Feb 11.

Authors

Ian A Dickie¹, Peter G Avis, David J McLaughlin, Peter B Reich

Affiliation

¹ Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 115 Green Hall, 1530 N Cleveland Ave.,St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. dicki017@umn.edu

PMID: 12836086
DOI: 10.1007/s00572-003-0225-x

Abstract

A spreadsheet-based program (Good-Enough RFLP Matcher or GERM) is presented that matches unknown restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of ectomycorrhizal fungi to a database of known ectomycorrhizal fungi. The program uses three simple methods to determine whether a sample matches a known: (1) Forward Matching: whether every band in the unknown is present in a known sample within a given error range; (2) Backward Matching: whether every band in the known sample is present in the unknown within a given error range; (3) Sum of Bands: whether the sum of all bands in the known and unknown are similar within a given error range. The program is available through the web page of this journal.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Database Management Systems
Databases, Nucleic Acid*
Mycorrhizae / genetics*
Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length*