Characterization and genetic diversity of Phytophthora spp. isolates from cacao based on RAPD markersThis paper deals with the study of the genetic diversity of the three most important species of Phytophthora causing cacao (Theobroma cacao) black pod disease in Brazil. RAPD molecular markers were used to study the genetic diversity among eight isolates of P. capsici, five of P. palmivora and nine of P. citrophthora. Genomic Objetivou-se neste trabalho estudar a diversidade genética entre isolados das três principais espécies do gênero Phytophthora causadoras da podridão-parda do cacaueiro (Theobroma cacao) no Brasil, utilizando marcadores moleculares RAPD. Foram utilizados 22 isolados de Phytophthora spp., sendo oito de P. capsici, cinco de P. palmivora e nove de P. citrophthora. DNA genômico de cada isolado foi extraído e amplificado utilizando-se sete "primers" decâmeros, os quais geraram 191 marcadores RAPD. Distâncias genéticas e análises de agrupamento realizadas com base nestes marcadores permitiram uma diferenciação clara dos isolados de cada espécie e mostraram diferentes níveis de diversidade intra-específica. Ficou evidente o potencial dos marcadores RAPD como uma ferramenta auxiliar na classificação dos isolados e, também, em estudos de diversidade genética intra-específica.Palavras-chave adicionais: Phytophthora capsici, P. palmivora, P. citrophthora, Theobroma cacao, marcadores moleculares, podridão-parda. ABSTRACTDNA of each isolate was extracted and amplified using seven decamer primers which generated 191 RAPD markers. The genetic distances and cluster analysis based on these molecular markers made it possible to differentiate the isolates of each species and showed different levels of intraspecifc variation. These results confirm the potential of RAPD markers as an auxiliary tool for the classification of Phytophthora spp. isolates and also to study intraspecific genetic variability.

-The purpose of this study was to determine the genetic diversity and heterozygosity of 26 clones used as parents of 27 families. The populations are being evaluated by the Comissão Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira (CEPLAC), in the state of BA. Nine of these clones are currently being recommended to farmers, while six others were used as control. The seven microsatellite generated 52 alleles with a mean of seven alleles/locus and genetic distance ranging from 0.17 to 0.90. This indicates a wide distribution of accessions and high variability. The heterozygosity ranged from 20% to 86%, and more than 50% of the loci were heterozygous in 79% of the clones. Although the selection of the parents for populations was not based on genetic distances, the high genetic diversity and heterozygosity of parents indicate highly segregating populations that make the selection of trees of interest possible, due to the variability.

Genetic diversity in cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) has been assessed based on morphological and molecular markers for germplasm management and breeding purposes. Pedigree data is available in cocoa but it has not been used for assessing genetic relatedness. The geneitic diversity of 30 clonal cocoa accessions resistant to witche´ broom disease, from the CEPEC series, were studied on the basis of RAPD data and pedigree information. Twenty of these accessions descend from the TSA-644 clone, originated from a cross between the Upper Amazon germplasm called Scavina-6, the main source of resistance to witches' broom disease, and IMC-67. The ten remaining clones come from different sources including Amazon and Trinitario germplasm. RAPD data was collected using 16 primers and pedigree information was obtained from the International Cocoa Germplasm Database. Genetic similarities, genetic distances and coefficient of parentage were calculated using available software. Relatively low genetic diversity was observed in this germplasm set, probably because of great genetic relatedness amongst accessions studied and the poor representation of the germplasm. The TSA-644 descendants were more diverse than the other accessions used in the study. This might be due to the origin of the TSA clone, which was derived from highly divergent genotypes. Association between genetic similarities based on RAPD data and coefficient of parentage, based on pedigree data, was very low, probably due to the homogeneity of the breeding stocks and poor pedigree information. These findings are useful to cocoa breeders in planning crosses for the development of hybrid and clonal cultivars.

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Divergência genética nas progênies de cacau no programa de retrocruzamento visando resistência à vassoura-de-bruxaO retrocruzamento tem sido pouco usado no melhoramento do cacaueiro, particularmente devido ao longo tempo requerido para transferir genes e recuperar o genoma do pai recorrente. O objetivo deste estudo foi selecionar indiví-duos resultantes do retrocruzamento de CEPEC-42 x SIC-19, geneticamente relacionado ao pai recorrente SIC 19 por meio do uso de marcador molecular RAPD, dentre aqueles com resistência à vassoura-de-bruxa. Das 31 plantas que agruparam com SIC-19, 18 das replantadas permanecem sem a vassoura-de-bruxa no campo, com bom aspecto vegetativo. Essas 18 plantas podem ser usadas em retrocruzamento para alcançar o objetivo desejado. Palavras-chave:Retrocruzamento, melhoramento, marcador molecular, seleção assistida por marcadores, genótipo gráfico. Genetic divergence in cocoa progenies for backcrossing program to witches' broom disease resistanceBackcrossing has been little used in cacao breeding, particularly due to the long time required to transfer genes and recover the genetic background of the recurrent parent. The objective of this study was to select individuals, resulting from the backcross CEPEC-42 x SIC-19, genetically related to the recurrent parent SIC-19 by using RAPD molecular markers, among those with resistance to witches' broom. Of the 31 plants that clustered with SIC-19, 18 from the replanted material remained free of the disease in the field, with good vegetative aspect and, therefore can be used for backcross to reach the desired objective.