Genetic similarity of Theobroma cacao L. accessions maintained in duplicate at the cacao research center germplasm collection based on RAPD markers
Fábio Gelape Faleiro; Milton Macoto Yamada; Uilson Vanderlei Lopes; Alessandra Silva Gelape Faleiro; Rita de Cássia Siqueira Bahia; Luana Mahé Costa Gomes; Ronaldo Carvalho Santos and Reinaldo Figueiredo dos Santos
The objective of this work was to use RAPD markers to analyze the genetic similarity of 18 accessions maintained in 37 rows in the germplasm collection of Cacao Research Center (CEPEC/CEPLAC), Itabuna, Brazil. Within each row a plant was chosen at random, from which genomic DNA was extracted. DNA sample of each row was amplified by the RAPD. Fifty one RAPD markers were generated, and then transformed to a matrix of binary data. These binary data were used to estimate genetic similarities and to perform cluster analyses. Genetic similarities of 0.70, 0.94 and 0.96 were observed between plants of the accessions RB 29, Ca 1 and C. Sul 4, respectively. The mistakes in the identification of accessions in different germplasm collections seems to be more common than expected. Also, considering the great importance of the germplasm collections, an international effort would be necessary for the characterization of all important cacao germplasm collections around the world.