Abstract
The Atlantic Forest is a phytogeographic domain with a high rate of endemism and large species diversity. The Sapotaceae is a botanical family for which species identification in the Atlantic Forest is difficult. An approach that facilitates species identification in the Sapotaceae is urgently needed because this family includes threatened species and valuable timber species. In this context, DNA barcoding could provide an important tool for identifying species in the Atlantic Forest. In this work, we evaluated four plant barcode markers (matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA and the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region - ITS) in 80 samples from 26 species of Sapotaceae that occur in the Atlantic Forest. ITS yielded the highest average interspecific distance (0.122), followed by trnH-psbA (0.019), matK (0.008) and rbcL (0.002). For species discrimination, ITS provided the best results, followed by matK, trnH-psbA and rbcL. Furthermore, the combined analysis of two, three or four markers did not result in higher rates of discrimination than obtained with ITS alone. These results indicate that the ITS region is the best option for molecular identification of Sapotaceae species from the Atlantic Forest.
Highlights
Tropical regions harbor a substantial portion of the worlds biodiversity and some of the most diverse and threatened biomes on the planet
The Atlantic Forest is considered a hotspot of biodiversity (Myers et al, 2000) and it is comprised of highly diverse plants, with 16,146 species recorded, of which 7,524 are endemic (Forzza et al, 2010)
Many Sapotaceae species provide economically important products such as latex, wood and fruits for human consumption (Pennington, 1990). Several species in this family provide important resources for the animal biota, such as the golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) that relies on some Sapotaceae species for food and shelter (Oliveira et al, 2010)
Summary
Tropical regions harbor a substantial portion of the worlds biodiversity and some of the most diverse and threatened biomes on the planet. Additional methods, e.g., molecular tools, need to be developed to assist in traditional identification In this context, the DNA barcode, which is the use of short genomic regions that are standardized for quick, accurate species identification (Hebert et al, 2003a), has helped in molecular identification in several plant groups. With regard to plant species, the rbcL and matK markers are recommended as DNA barcodes (CBOL Plant Working Group, 2009) These markers do not have good discriminatory power in some taxa (Du et al, 2011; Guo et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2012); the use of additional markers, such as the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and trnH-psbA, is required. We evaluated the efficiency of the plastid markers matK, rbcL and trnH-psbA and the nuclear ribosomal ITS region for the identification of Sapotaceae species from the Atlantic Forest
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