Abstract
Trifolium polymorphum Poir. is an amphicarpic forage legume from southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. Information on the genetic diversity of natural populations in natural grasslands in southern Brazil is limited. In order to increase the knowledge about this species, an analysis of the genetic diversity was carried out in 10 natural populations of T. polymorphum with the use of 20 microsatellite markers. The expected heterozygosity in T. polymorphum populations ranged from 0.40 to 0.43, with a mean of 0.42. A total of 193 alleles were detected with a mean of 9.3 alleles per locus and polymorphic information content (PIC) for these markers of 0.62 to 0.89 with a mean of 0.84.The grouping based on the Jaccard's coefficient of similarity classified populations, regardless of their regions of origin, into two groups with a mean similarity coefficient of 0.32, reflecting the high genetic variability of the populations, especially those located in the Campanha phytogeographic region. This information on diversity can be used to plan future germplasm collection strategies for conservation purposes and also for the breeding of the species.
Highlights
Trifolium polymorphum Poir., is a stoloniferous perennial legume endemic to southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile (Burkart 1987, Zohary and Heller 1984) and one of the reproduction through stolons and regrowth of the reserve roots separate from the mother plant (Speroni et al 2014)
Polymorphum, which makes the present results important, since it complements information on the species. This data differs from that obtained in cultivars of T. pratense by Dugar and Popov (2013) where the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.22 to 0.80 with the use of SSR, and by Pagnotta et al (2011) who found expected heterozygosity between 0.18 and 0.43 with the use of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers in Italian red clover genotypes, including local varieties, natural populations and ancient cultivars of the species
Amplification of the 20 SSR primers in the 10 accessions of T. polymorphum resulted in a total of 193 alleles, ranging in size from 50 to 420 base pairs
Summary
Trifolium polymorphum Poir., is a stoloniferous perennial legume endemic to southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile (Burkart 1987, Zohary and Heller 1984) and one of the reproduction through stolons and regrowth of the reserve roots separate from the mother plant (Speroni et al 2014). During winter T. polymorphum is an important forage component of natural grasslands of Rio Grande do Sul (between 30oS and 34oS) due to its high palatability and good forage quality (Speroni and Izaguirre 2003). The loss of large areas of these grasslands in Rio Grande do Sul due to conversion to annual agricultural crops, especially soybean and corn and silviculture (mainly of eucalyptus and pine), and the degradation associated with the invasion of exotic species such as Eragrostis plana Ness (called capim anoni in Brazil) is a major threat to the genetic diversity of this highly biodiverse natural ecosystem that provides soil carbon storage, erosion control, soil water infiltration, pollinator availability and forage production (Pillar et al 2012). Conservation strategies to understand patterns of genetic variation within and between populations are crucial to assess the current status of populations (Béjaoui et al 2011, Corlett 2016) and to establish a collection strategy for the conservation and use of germplasm (Rao and Hodgkin 2002, Whitlock et al 2016)
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