Abstract
The genetic relationships between accessions of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) were determined based on AFLP marker. A set of 50 plants from 12 accessions of J. curcas was analyzed with molecular data from 164 loci generated from 17 AFLP primer combinations. Molecular variance of data was analyzed by total decomposition between and within accessions. An UPGMA dendrogram was constructed based on genetic distances estimated by Jaccard's similarity coefficient. The well-defined dendrogram showed a cophenetic value of 0.91. Groups of plants were observed in six of the 12 accessions studied with similarity of over 30 %, indicating high genetic variability. The variation among accessions was estimated to be 0.275, also indicating high variability. These results show that the genetic variability of the studied J. curcas accessions is structured according to the origin and that a greater number of populations should be sampled to increase the genetic diversity of the studied genebank.
Highlights
Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is a shrubby tree plant of the family Euphorbiaceae, fast growing that reaches a height of 2-3 m or up to 5 m under special climate and soil conditions
The aim of this study was to determine the genetic relationships based on Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers, of 12 jatropha accessions from different regions of Brazil and other countries with a view to guide the management of the species and improvement strategies of the genetic resources
This is the first study to apply AFLP markers to analyze the genetic diversity among Brazilian J. curcas accessions
Summary
Physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) is a shrubby tree plant of the family Euphorbiaceae, fast growing that reaches a height of 2-3 m or up to 5 m under special climate and soil conditions. J. curcas is a plant native to Central America and possibly to Brazil, but there are records of its occurrence in other countries such as Australia, South Africa and India. From the Caribbean Islands, where the species J. curcas may have been used by the Maya, it was probably brought by Portuguese traders from Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau to other countries in Africa and Asia (Jongschaap et al 2007). According to Peixoto (1973), the geographical distribution of jatropha in Brazil is rather widespread, in view of its robustness and strong drought-resistance, and adaptability to greatly varied soil and climate conditions, from the North of the country to the states of São Paulo and Paraná. Different from initial reports, which attributed insect protection to the toxic and insecticide properties of the species, several groups of insects have overcome these natural barriers, causing damage in commercial plantations of J. curcas (Shanker and Dhyani 2006)
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