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One of the greatest problems in Coffea arabica breeding is identifying precisely any inbred line, based only on botanical and agronomical descriptors, because of the reduced genetic variability of the species, close pedigree origin, which results in small phenotypic variation. Recently, molecular markers have been used for plant germplasm characterization and identification in several commercial species. This work evaluates the reliability of three marker systems: RAPD, AFLP and SSR, to characterize the genetic variability of commercially-used Coffea inbred lines developed by the Instituto Agronômico (IAC), and their potential for cultivar identification. All methods identified polymorphisms among the cultivars. The genetic diversity recognized by the methods is very similar, although is very narrow. RAPD and SSR marker systems grouped more efficiently the evaluated cultivars according to parental origin. None of the methods allowed inbred line identification. Therefore for varietal protection, it would be necessary using a combination of botanical, agronomical and molecular markers descriptors for precise cultivar identification. Key words: coffee, cultivar identification, molecular markers CARACTERIZAÇÃO DA DIVERSIDADE GENÉTICA DE LINHAGENS COMERCIAIS DE Coffea arabica ATRAVÉS DE MARCADORES MOLECULARES DO TIPO RAPD, AFLP E SSRRESUMO: A identificação de linhagens de Coffea arabica a partir de descritores botânicos e agronômicos é um problema para o desenvolvimento de cultivares. Basicamente, a limitada variação fenotípica observada em cultivares é o resultado de uma estreita variabilidade genética em C. arabica associada com uma origem genealógica próxima. Recentemente, os uso de marcadores moleculares tem contribuído para a caracterização e identificação de várias espécies de interesse comercial. O objetivo deste trabalho foi comparar a confiabilidade de três tipos de marcadores moleculares, RAPD, AFLP e SSR, para a caracterização da variabilidade genética e uma possível identificação de linhagens comerciais de Coffea desenvolvidas pelo IAC. Os métodos avaliados permitiram identificar polimorfismos entre cultivares. A variabilidade genética detectada por eles é muito semelhante, ainda que reduzida. Marcadores do tipo RAPD e SSR foram mais eficientes em análises de parentesco, e o agrupamento das linhagens correspondeu à sua origem genealógica. No entanto, nenhum dos métodos testados permitiu a identificação individual de linhagens. Neste caso, a utilização conjunta de descritores botânicos, agronômicos e marcadores moleculares é recomendada para a identificação precisa de linhagens, visando processos de proteção legal de cultivares de Coffea.

Genetic diversity and relationships within and among nine species of Coffea, one species of Psilanthus and the Piatã hybrid from the Coffee Germplasm Collection of Instituto Agronô-mico de Campinas (IAC), Brazil were assessed using RAPD markers. Genetic diversity and relationships were evaluated by proportion of polymorphic loci (P), Shannon's genetic index (H 0 and G 0 ST ) and clustering analysis. The overall RAPD variation among all accessions was mostly partitioned between rather than within species. However, C. canephora and C. liberica showed a high genetic diversity within the species (H 0 sp = 0.414 and H 0 sp = 0.380, respectively) and this was highly structured (high G 0 ST ). Genetic diversity from C. congensis and C. arabica was also structured, but with lower levels of genetic diversity (H 0 sp = 0.218 and H 0 sp = 0.126, respectively). The results were consistent with agronomic and molecular studies and demonstrated that the IAC Coffea Collection is representative of the phylogenetic structure observed in the genera. This study devises sampling strategies for coffee germplasm collections and provides genetic diversity parameters for future comparisons among them.

-(Photosynthesis and carbon gain under contrasting light levels in seedlings of a pioneer and a climax tree from a Brazilian Semideciduous Tropical Forest). In this study we evaluated photosynthetic characteristics and patterns of biomass accumulation in seedlings of two tree species from a Semideciduous Tropical Forest of Brazil. Seedlings of Trema micrantha (L.) Blum. (pioneer) and Hymenaea courbaril (L.) var. stilbocarpa (Hayne) Lee & Langenh. (climax) were grown for 4 months under low light (LL) (5%-8% of sunlight) and high light (HL) (100% of sunlight). Under HL, T. micrantha showed higher CO 2 assimilation rates (A CO 2 ) and light saturation than H. courbaril. Under LL, A CO 2 were higher in H. courbaril. Under LL, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents per unit leaf area were higher in H. courbaril. Chlorophyll a/b ratio was higher in T. micrantha under both light regimes. A CO 2 and F v /F m ratio at both pre-dawn and midday in H. coubaril were lower in HL indicating chronic photoinhibition. Thus, the climax species was more susceptible to photoinhibition than the pioneer. However, H. courbaril produced higher total biomass under both treatments showing high efficiency in the maintenance of a positive carbon balance. Thus, both species expressed characteristics that favor growth under conditions that resemble their natural microenvironments, but H. courbaril also grew under HL. The ecophysiological range of responses to contrasting light levels of this climax plant seems to be broader than generally observed for other rainforest climax species. We propose that this could be related to the particular spatio-temporal light regime of the semideciduous forests.Key words -CO 2 assimilation, growth response to light, Hymenaea courbaril, photoinhibition, Trema micrantha RESUMO -(Fotossíntese e acúmulo de biomassa sob condições contrastantes de intensidade luminosa em plântulas de uma espécie pioneira e outra climácica de uma floresta estacional semidecidual do Brasil). Neste trabalho foram avaliadas características fotossintéticas e padrões de acúmulo de biomassa de duas espécies arbóreas de uma floresta estacional semidecidual. Plântulas de Trema micrantha (L.) Blum. (pioneira) e Hymenaea courbaril (L.) var. stilbocarpa (Hayne) Lee & Langenh. (climácica) foram cultivadas por quatro meses sob baixa radiação (BR) (5%-8% da radiação solar incidente) e alta radiação (AR) (100% da radiação solar incidente). Sob AR, T. micrantha apresentou maiores taxas de assimilação de CO 2 (A CO 2 ) e ponto de saturação luminosa. Sob BR, A CO 2 foram maiores em H. courbaril. Sob BR, o conteúdo de clorofilas e carotenóides totais por unidade de área foliar foi maior em H. courbaril. A razão clorofila a/b foi maior em T. micrantha sob os dois tratamentos. A CO 2 e razão F v /F m antes do amanhecer e no horário de máxima intensidade luminosa em H. courbaril foram menores sob AR, indicando a ocorrência de fotoinibição crônica. Apesar da suscetibilidade à fotoinibição, H. courbaril teve maior produção de biomassa. Dest...

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Despite the recent advances in plant population genetic studies, the lack of information regarding pedigree, ploidy level, or mode of inheritance for many polyploids can compromise the analysis of the molecular data produced. The aim of this study was to examine both microsatellite and cytogenetic characteristics of the pioneer tree Croton floribundus Spreng. (Euphorbiaceae) to test for the occurrence of polyploidy in the species and to evaluate its implications for the appropriate use of SSR markers. Seven microsatellite markers were developed and screened for 62 individuals from a semi-deciduous tropical forest in Brazil. Chromosome number, meiotic behavior, and pollen viability were evaluated from male flower buds. All SSR loci were highly polymorphic. The number of bivalents observed in meiosis n = 56 (2n = 8× = 112) and the maximum number of alleles per individual (Ni = 8) demonstrated the occurrence of polyploidy in C. floribundus. The normal meiotic pairing and the high pollen viability suggested that C. floribundus is a regular and stable polyploid, most likely an allopolyploid. The combined SSR and cytogenetic data provided new evidence on the origin and evolution of the species as well as assured the accurate use of SSR loci for population genetic studies of the polyploid pioneer species.

The distribution of tree species in tropical forests is generally related to the occurrence of disturbances and shifts in the local environmental conditions such as light, temperature, and biotic factors. Thus, the distribution of pioneer tree species is expected to vary according to the gap characteristics and with human disturbances. We asked whether there was variation in the distribution of a pioneer species under different environmental conditions generated by natural disturbances, and between two forests with contrasting levels of human disturbance. To answer this question, we studied the distribution patterns and population persistence of the pioneer tree species Croton floribundus in the size and age gap range of a primary Brazilian forest. Additionally, we compared the plant density of two size-classes between a primary and an early successional human-disturbed forest. Croton floribundus was found to be widespread and equally distributed along the gap-size gradient in the primary forest. Overall density did not vary with gap size or age (F-ratio = 0.062, P = 0.941), and while juveniles were found to have a higher density in the early successional forest (P = 0.021), tree density was found to be similar between forests (P = 0.058). Our results indicate that the population structure of a pioneer tree species with long life span and a broad gap-size niche preference varied between natural and human-disturbed forests, but not with the level of natural disturbance. We believe this can be explained by the extreme environmental changes that occur after human disturbance. The ecological processes that affect the distribution of pioneer species in natural and human-modified forests may be similar, but our results suggest they act differently under the contrasting environmental conditions generated by natural and human disturbances.

-The time required to regrowth a forest in degraded areas depends on how the forest is removed and on the type of land use following removal. Natural regeneration was studied in abandoned old fields after intensive agricultural land use in areas originally covered by Brazilian Atlantic Forests of the Anchieta Island, Brazil in order to understand how plant communities reassemble following human disturbances as well as to determine suitable strategies of forest restoration. The fields were classified into three vegetation types according to the dominant plant species in: 1) Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae) fields, 2) Dicranopteris flexuosa (Schrader) Underw. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets, and 3) Gleichenella pectinata (Willd.) Ching. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets. Both composition and structure of natural regeneration were compared among the three dominant vegetation types by establishing randomly three plots of 1 x 3 m in five sites of the island. A gradient in composition and abundance of species in natural regeneration could be observed along vegetation types from Dicranopteris fern thickets to Miconia fields. The gradient did not accurately follow the pattern of spatial distribution of the three dominant vegetation types in the island regarding their proximity of the remnant forests. A complex association of biotic and abiotic factors seems to be affecting the seedling recruitment and establishment in the study plots. The lowest plant regeneration found in Dicranopteris and Gleichenella thickets suggests that the ferns inhibit the recruitment of woody and herbaceous species. Otherwise, we could not distinguish different patterns of tree regeneration among the three vegetation types. Our results showed that forest recovery following severe anthropogenic disturbances is not direct, predictable or even achievable on its own. Appropriated actions and methods such as fern removal, planting ground covers, and enrichment planting with tree species were suggested in order to restore the natural forest regeneration process in the abandoned old fields.Keywords: Wet tropical forests, Anthropogenic disturbances and Forest restoration. REGENERAÇÃO NATURAL EM ÁREAS ABANDONADAS APÓS INTENSIVO