Genetic diversity of Copernicia prunifera using ISSR molecular markers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to select primers ISSR (Inter Simple Sequence Repeat) for studies of the genetic structure, and to quantify the genetic variability in a natural population of C. prunifera. Thirty seven individuals were sampled in the municipality Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil. Seventeen ISSR primers were tested, of which 12 amplified DNA and of these, seven were selected to characterize the structure and genetic diversity of the population. The primers that had the highest percentage of polymorphic loci were UBC 841 (16.36%), UBC 842 (15.45%), UBC 857 (12.73%), UBC 859 (10.90%), UBC 840 (10.90%), UBC 813 (10%) and UBC 827 (8.18%), totaling 93 of the 110 loci generated. The polymorphic information content (PIC) of each selected primer ranged from 0.057 (UBC 859) and 0.444 (UBC 841). The optimal number of loci to reliably estimate the genetic diversity for this work was 76 loci, ie, when the correlation reached 0.998 and the stress was less than 0.05. High genetic diversity was found, with the number of observed alleles (na = 2.00), effective alleles (ne = 1.46), Nei’s diversity index (He = 0.28) and Shannon index (Ho = 0.44). The value of the coancestry remained within the confidence interval (P > 0.05), indicating no spatial genetic structure, regardless of the distance between plants. ISSR markers were efficient in genetic characterization of individuals’ carnauba serving with allowance for management and conservation of the species.