GENETIC VARIABILITY IN JUVENILE CHARACTERS OF PROGENIES OF Apuleia leiocarpa

Abstract

The objective of this search was to quantify the genetic variability in progenies from grápia mother trees in natural populations, for initial growth characters of the seedlings. Seeds were collected from 13 mother trees, from four origins, located in the municipalities of Pareci Novo, São José do Sul and Aratiba in RS, and Seara in SC, as well as data from plants and place of origin. Biometrics were performed on 100 seeds lot from each mother tree, and an experiment was installed to evaluate progenies in a completely randomized design. It was evaluated the seedling emergence speed and the emergence percentage, the stem diameter and seedlings height, as well as the final survival percentage. A significative difference was found for all variables observed for seeds and seedlings of grápia mother trees. Seed length and width demonstrated high values for individual heritability in the narrow sense (above 0.6), being possible to use the seed size for an analysis of genetic variability between plants of the species, but not as an indicative variable of physiological quality and vigor. The correlation analysis indicated that the seedling emergence percentage is related to the characteristics of the mother plant plant (height and diameter). Thus, the use of seedlings for forest restoration areas is appropriate, as they have indications of genetic diversity.

Selection of Genipa americana L. seed trees by genetic divergence in fruits, seeds, and seedlings

“…Variables related to fruits and seeds can vary between plants of the same species, reproductive years, or even within the same plant (Lovatel et al 2021). Seed size is one factor in uencing seedling emergence through the quantity of reserves present in the seed (Pádua et al 2010).…”

“…Seed biometry is an e cient criterion to verify genetic divergence among individuals (Lovatel et al 2021). It should also be noted that the heritability coe cient, in the strict sense, re ects how much of the phenotypic variation, observed in a quantitative character, is heritable due to the additive gene effects transferred from parental individuals to their descendants (Costa et al 2010).…”

GENETIC VARIABILITY OF Parkia platycephala POPULATIONS: SUPPORT FOR DEFINING SEED COLLECTION AREAS

“…In this sense, studies on forest species evaluating fruit, seed, and seedling characteristics have been conducted focusing on quantifying genetic variability in progenies from mother trees in natural populations, for example, from Cedrela fissilis Vell. (Meliaceae) (BIERNASKI; HIGA; SILVA, 2012), Apuleia leiocarpa (Vogel) J. F. Macbride (Caesalpiniaceae) (LOVATEL et al, 2021), and Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae) (YILMAZ-DÜZYAMAN, ROSA; LEÓN, 2022).…”

“…Information on the origin of these seeds is another issue to be studied because of continuous losses of habitats, which directly result in decreases in genetic availability and diversity and can compromise the sustainability of restored populations. Assuring seed physiological and, mainly, genetic quality is essential for forest restoration; thus, some factors, such as geographical distribution of species, genic flow, endogamy, seed and pollen dispersion methods, reproduction system, and efficiency of pollinating and dispersing agents have been taken into consideration, because they affect the genetic structure of populations (SEBBENN, 2002;LOVATEL et al, 2021). Information on genetic variability of natural populations is essential for defining areas for seed collection, focused on using them in restoration programs and further for active germplasm banks and implementation of base population for conservation and pre-breeding purposes.…”