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Genetic structure among the endangered Brazilian Euterpe Edulis Mart (Arecaceae) morphotypes
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  • Gislaine Coelho,
  • Alesandro Santos,
  • Ivandilson Menezes,
  • Roberto Tarazi,
  • Fernanda Maria Souza,
  • Maria das Graças Silva,
  • F. A. Gaiotto
Gislaine Coelho
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz

Corresponding Author:gisacoelho@hotmail.com

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Alesandro Santos
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
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Ivandilson Menezes
Instituto Federal Goiano
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Roberto Tarazi
BASF Discovery Breeder
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Fernanda Maria Souza
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas
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Maria das Graças Silva
5Centro de Pesquisa do Cacau (CEPEC), Comissão Executiva do Plano da Lavoura Cacaueira (CEPLAC)
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F. A. Gaiotto
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
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Abstract

Euterpe edulis (Arecaceae) Mart has high ecological and economic importance providing food resources for more than 58 species of birds and 20 species of mammals, including humans. E. edulis is the second most explored non-timber product from Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Due to overexploitation and destruction of habitats, E. edulis is threatened by extinction. E. edulis populations have large morphological variations, with individuals having green, red or yellow leaf sheath. However, no study has related phenotypic distinctions between populations and their levels of genetic structure. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the diversity and genetic structure of different E. edulis morphotypes. We sampled 250 adult individuals in eight populations with the different morphotypes. Using 14 microsatellite markers, we access genetic diversity through population genetic parameters calculated in the GenAlex program and the diveRsity package in R. We used the Wilcoxon test to verify population bottlenecks and the genetic distance of Nei and Bayesian analysis for genetic clusters. The eight populations showed low allele richness, low heterogeneity observed and high inbreeding values (f). In addition, six of the eight populations experienced genetic bottlenecks, which would partly explain the low genetic diversity in populations. Cluster analysis identified two clusters (K=2), with green morphotype genetically distinguishing from yellow and red morphotypes. Thus, we show, for the first time, a strong genetic structure among E. edulis morphotypes even for geographically close populations.
13 Feb 2020Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
14 Feb 2020Submission Checks Completed
14 Feb 2020Assigned to Editor
04 Mar 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
24 Mar 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Mar 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
03 Apr 20201st Revision Received
05 Apr 2020Submission Checks Completed
05 Apr 2020Assigned to Editor
05 Apr 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
14 Apr 2020Editorial Decision: Accept