Genetic structure and gene flow in Eugenia dysenterica DC in the Brazilian Cerrado utilizing SSR markers

Abstract

The "cagaita tree" (Eugenia dysenterica) is a plant found widespread in the Brazilian Cerrado. Its fruit is used for popular consumption and for industrial purposes. This study opens a new perspective for the generation of population genetic data and parameters estimates for devising sound collection and conservation procedures for Eugenia dysenterica. A battery of 356 primer pairs developed for Eucalyptus spp. was tested on the "cagaita tree". Only 10 primer pairs were found to be transferable between the two species. Using a polyacrilamide gel, an average of 10.4 alleles per locus was detected, in a sample of 116 individuals from 10 natural "cagaita tree" populations. Seven polymorphic loci allowed estimation of genetic parameters, including expected average heterozygosity H e = 0,442, among population diversity, R ST = 0,268 and gene flow Nm = 0,680. Results indicated a potential of SSR locus transferability developed for Eucalyptus to other species of different genera, such as in the case of the "cagaita tree". The high genetic diversity among populations detected with SSR markers indicated that these markers are highly sensitive to detect population structure. Estimated Nm values and the existence of private alleles indicated reduced gene flow and consequently possible damage to the metapopulation structure.

Genetic structure and gene flow of Eugenia dysenterica natural populations

“…Molecular markers have been frequently used in studies on genetic diversity and structure of population. Literature reports describe the use of this technique in conservation studies of Cerrado species, as those by Collevatti et al (2001) and Zucchi et al (2002Zucchi et al ( , 2003. Among the various types of currently available markers, RAPD are important because they are simple, can be applied to many species, and allow analysis of many loci.…”

Genetic structure of two Prosopis species in Chaco areas: A lack of allelic diversity diagnosis and insights into the allelic conservation of the affected species

“…Based on the t a index results, Eugenia dysenterica DC (Zucchi et al., 2003) and Solanum lycocarpum A. St‐Hil. (Moura, 2007) presented low inbreeding, similar to P. rubriflora , even in disturbed or regeneration areas.…”

“…P. rubriflora and P. alba have average values of H e compared with those obtained in other studies using SSR markers on South American arboreal taxa, such as C. langsdorffii (Martins, Santos, Gaiotto, Moreno, & Kageyama, 2008), D. nigra (Barreto, 2010), D. alata (Collevatti et al, 2013), E. dysenterica (Zucchi et al., 2003), L. divaricata (Conson et al., 2013), P. reticulata (Oliveira, 2012), Q. grandiflora (Ritter, 2012), and S. lycocarpum (Moura, 2007). However, the F IS from these studies suggests that Prosopis populations may experience smaller effects of environmental disturbances than populations of D. nigra (Barreto, 2010), P. reticulata (Oliveira, 2012), Q. grandiflora (Ritter, 2012), C. langsdorffii (Martins et al., 2008), D. alata (Collevatti et al., 2013), and L. divaricata (Conson et al., 2013).…”

Transferability and characterization of simple sequence repeat markers from Anacardium occidentale to A. humile (Anacardiaceae)

“…The use of microsatellite markers in several studies has generated data regarding the diversity and genetic structure of natural populations, dispersal patterns of genes, crossbreeding systems, effective population-size, and evolutionary relationships between species. The use of these markers has provided basic knowledge of evolution and has promoted conservation, sustainable use, breeding, and genetic mapping of species (Zucchi et al, 2003;Hardy et al, 2006;Ellis and Burke, 2007;Takezaki and Nei, 2008;Cristofani-Yaly et al, 2011).…”