Diversidade genética e sistema de reprodução progênies elites de Pupunheira Inerme (Bactris gasipaes KUNTH) com marcadores microssatélites: Implicações para o melhoramento do palmito.

Abstract

The peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth var. gasipaes) is a domesticated Neotropical palm that is important as a cultivated source of heart-of-palm. The genetic base for this agribusiness is the Pampa Hermosa landrace, Yurimaguas, Peru, that supplies the absolute majority of the seeds used in the expansion of the agribusiness and the improvement programs in Brazil, because its plants are spineless and more productive than those of other landraces. The use of molecular markers will permit better discrimination among populations and progenies of the landrace, guiding the selection of elite individuals and the search for hybrid vigor via maximization of heterozygosity within the landrace. This study evaluated the genetic diversity, population structure, and genetic relations among progenies and populations in a progeny trial maintained at INPA, Manaus, Amazonas, as well as the mating system of the peach palm using eight microsatellite loci, to support the improvement programs that use these genetic resources. Samples from three populations of the Pampa Hermosa landrace and from the market of Yurimaguas were collected from 12 progenies from the Cuiparillo River (n=140), 12 from the Paranapura River (n=130), nine from the Shanusi River (n=130), and 17 from the market at Yurimaguas (n=168). The sampling concentrated on plants (121) selected for heart length, and included non-selected plants (447). High genetic variability exists in the progeny trail, with a mean of 15.1 alleles per locus and total diversity (HT) equal to 0.82. The eight loci had 12 common alleles and 26 intermediate-frequency alleles found in all the populations and the market, and 83 alleles scattered among populations, with 14 private alleles. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) in the trail was less than the He in the majority of the loci; in locus Bg02-08 Ho was very inferior, suggesting a strong excess of homozygotes in this locus. The Ho was lowest in Shanusi (0.64) and highest in Paranapura (0.74). The inbreeding coefficient f varied among populations and market, and was highest in Shanusi (0.190) and lowest in Paranapura (0.111). Genetic divergence among the populations and the market was low (formula), certainly due to high gene flow (9.8 migrants per generation). The AMOVA detected 82.8% of the total variation within the progenies, 16% among the progenies within the populations and market, and only 1.3% among the populations and the market, describing a weak genetic structure and suggesting that the populations and the market are highly related. This relationship was confirmed by the dendrograms of the DAS genetic distances among the populations, with a greater proximity between the populations of Paranapura and Cuiparillo, and between the Mercado and Shanusi. The dendrogram of the DAS genetic distances showed high genetic affinity among the progenies and the formation of groups independent of their geographic origin. The Ho and He were high for the majority of the progenies, confirming high genetic variability within the progenies. The inbreeding coefficient (f) for the progeny trial was not different from zero, confirming an excess of heterozygotes and confirming the high variability observed from the estimates of heterozygosity. The analysis of the mating system found that the species is predominantly allogamous. The high out-crossing rate demonstrates that the progenies are derived almost exclusively from individuals experiencing out-crossing, probably due to the harvest representing the peak of the flowering season and to the synchronism of flowering associated with the behavior of the pollinator. The estimates of crossing among relatives (tm - ts) were significant (0.101 to 0.202), suggesting some biparental inbreeding, probably due to the farmers practice of planting open-pollinated seeds of only a few seed sources in the same plot. The estimate of paternity correlation was low (varying from 0.051 to 0.112), suggesting a small number of full sibs within the progenies and large number of pollen sources (9 to 20) participating in the crosses. The progenies of the trial are composed mainly of half sibs with great genetic variability, enhanced by the large number of pollen sources, and suggests that selection for heart-of-palm production could be based on the classic models of quantitative genetics applied to exclusively allogamous species. This information will be used to guide the crosses among progenies/populations. Two improvement plans are feasible with this information: population improvement, with crosses among highly divergent plants and progenies; by reciprocal recurrent selection, with the creation of divergent populations based on morphometric and genetic information.