Diversidade e Estrutura Genética Populacional em Luehea Divaricata Mart. & Zucc. na Região da Fronteira Oeste do Rio Grande do Sul, Baseada em Marcadores Microssatélites

Abstract

Belonging to the family Malvaceae, the Açoita-cavalo (Luehea divaricata) is a forest species that occurs naturally from the Rio Grande do Sul State to Bahia State, largely employed in the furniture manufacturing and as medicinal plant. It is a fast-growing pioneer species, characteristic of riparian forests, it presents in natural regeneration conditions, a large quantity of individuals, being indicated for the natural recovery of degraded areas. The açoita-cavalo is one of the most important native species for the phytosociology, occurring virtually in all hydrographical components of the Rio Grande do Sul, in the mixed ombrophylous forest, seasonal deciduous forest, seasonal semidecidual forest, savanna, stepic-savanna and in areas of ecological tension. This study aimed to characterize the genetic diversity and structure of five natural populations of L. divaricata in the region of “Fronteira Oeste” in the Rio Grande do Sul State, within the Pampa biome. Leave samples were collected from adult individuals found in the areas (n=128). DNA was isolated using the Invisorb Plant Mini Kit (Invitek) and five microsatellite loci were amplified through PCR. The alleles were resolved in polyacrylamide gels (10%) and the data analyzed with the software GenAlEx 6.4, FSTAT 2.9.3 e ARLEQUIN 3.1. The results revealed high levels of genetic diversity within the populations. The expected heterozigosity (H e ) and the Shannon index (I) equaled 0.627 and 1.223, respectively. The AMOVA analysis revealed that the larger amount of the genetic diversity occurs within the populations (76.12%). The fixation index in the studied populations presented an excess of homozygotes in respect of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium The values of the Nei’s genetic distance point to high genetic divergence among the populations, consequence of the low efficiency of the gene flow among populations. The results indicate that gene flow is close enough to prevent population differentiation due to genetic drift in the populations studied, and this flow should occur mainly through pollen (by entomophily), since the seed dispersion (by anemocory), theoretically reaches longer distances. This low level of seed dispersion likely is due to the fragmentation and consequent isolation of the studied populations. These results suggest that the dispersal of reproductive propagules in two of the five populations in some ways is efficient because it presented low inbreeding. Thus, programs of genetic resources conservation of this species may be more efficient by maintaining the flow of pollinators, and the creation of ecological corridors for the conservation of connectivity between fragments. In addition, the obtained data reveals that the studied populations should be prioritized in programs of species genetic conservation, due to the relatively high level genetic diversity observed and the level of fragmentation of the areas of forest remnants in the Pampa region.