Transferability of microsatellite loci from Croton floribundus Spreng. to Croton urucurana Baill. (Euphorbiaceae)

Abstract

Croton urucurana, known as "sangra-d'água", is a tree species with timber and beekeeping potential, and also with medicinal potential. The use of microsatellite markers, simple sequence repeats (SSRs) is efficient in population genetic studies, with high transferability rate between correlated species. The present study aimed to optimize the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol and to test the transferability of seven primers developed for Croton floribundus to C. urucurana. The amplification of 113 accessions from different Brazilian biomes (Cerrado, Pantanal and Mata Atlântica) was tested. For optimization, the concentration and label of the MgCl 2 reagent was varied in addition to annealing temperature. Four tested primers showed amplification products, guaranteeing 57% of transferability. This result confirms the efficiency of C. floribundus microsatellite loci for future studies of genetic variability in C. urucurana.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Croton urucurana Baill. (Euphorbiaceae) in Central Brazil by ISSR markers

“…Croton has pantropical distribution and is the second-largest genus of Euphorbiaceae, with approximately 1200 species (Berry et al 2005), among which 304 occur in Brazil (Flora do Brasil 2020). Its economic importance is increasingly recognized, due to its enormous potential for production of essential oils with active constituents such as flavonoids, alkaloids and terpenoids, in addition to its medicinal uses (Maciel et al 2002;Motta et al 2019). Despite the great medicinal importance, genetic studies that are essential for the development of conservation and management strategies are still scarce in the genus with few species having been analyzed, such as C. antisyphiliticus Mart.…”