Genetic structure of Bertholletia excelsa populations from the Amazon at different spatial scales.

• Autor(a) principal: SUJII, P. S.
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: MARTINS, K., WADT, L. H. de O., AZEVEDO, V. C. R., SOLFERINI, V. N.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da EMBRAPA (Repository Open Access to Scientific Information from EMBRAPA - Alice)
• Texto Completo: http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1015836
• topic: Marcador microssatélite; Fitomejoramiento; Madera tropical; Marcadores genéticos; Nuez del Brasil; Repeticiones de microsatélite; Variación genética; Dinámica poblacional; Melhoramento genético vegetal; Essência florestal; Castanha do pará; Bertholletia excelsa; Variação genética; Dinâmica populacional; Marcador genético; Plant breeding; Tropical wood; Brazil nuts; Genetic variation; Population dynamics; Genetic markers; Microsatellite repeats

Population genetic structure and genetic diversity levels are important issues to understand population dynamics and to guide forest management plans. The Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.) is an endemic species, widely distributed through Amazonian upland forests and also an important species for the local extractive economy. Our aim was to analyze the genetic structure of Brazil nut trees at both fine and large scales throughout the Amazon Basin, contributing to the knowledge base on this species and to generate information to support plans for its conservation. We genotyped individuals from nine sites distributed in five regions of the Brazilian Amazon using 11 microsatellite loci. We found an excess of heterozygotes in most populations, with significant negative inbreeding coefficients (f) for five of them and the finescale structure, when present, was very small. These results, as a consequence of self-incompatibility, indicate that conservation plans for B. excelsa must include the maintenance of genetic diversity within populations to ensure viable amounts of seeds for both economic purposes and for the local persistence of the species.