Distribuição natural, caracterização genética populacional e de híbridos interespecíficos entre Euterpe precatoria Mart. e Euterpe oleracea Mart

Abstract

In the Amazon region, the species Euterpe oleracea Mart. and Euterpe precatoria Mart. are the most economically exploited, both for heart of palm extraction and pulp production. These species are found throughout the Amazon basin. And the occurrence of hybridization between them may be due to the geographical distribution of their populations, including sympatry zones and the open pollination system. Such events can contribute to studies on speciation, as well as help in understanding the reproductive barriers that maintain the boundary between species. Sympatry events can also occur through environmental changes, such as rainfall and temperature changes. Thus, with the current global climate change scenarios, it is necessary to analyze the effects of these changes on palm populations. Thus, climate suitability modeling stands out as a tool for predicting key niches based on bioclimatic variables. In view of this, the objective of this study was to carry out studies of interspecific hybridization between the species E. precatoria and E. oleracea and the modeling of the climatic niche of the species. Microsatellite markers and multielement analysis were used, as well as modeling to characterize the effects of the impacts of different climate change scenarios on the potential geographic distribution of E. oleracea and E. precatoria through a climate suitability model. The 17 microsatellite markers were efficient for estimating genetic diversity and estimating probable pollen donors through the paternity test between the species E. precatoria, E. oleracea and analyzed hybrids. With the use of the multielement analysis of inorganic components it was possible to discriminate the differences of absorption of inorganic elements between the two species and hybrids, being possible to verify the formation of subgroups with separation of hybrid individuals. In addition, a high absorption of zinc was observed among the hybrids, a promising result for future studies in the area of biofortification of the species and to identify hybrids where the element occurs uniformly in the soil. As for climate suitability models, all algorithms were efficient for the development of prediction maps of future scenarios for the species E. precatoria and E. oleracea. Through the suitability maps, a significant reduction of areas of occurrence in the Caatinga domain for E. oleracea was observed, demonstrating that this species is more sensitive to climate change. Meanwhile, the SSP 585 scenario showed sharp reductions for both species in all domains.