Genetic diversity in Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc. (Arecaceae) revealed low genetic differentiation
Jackeline Terto, Marislane Carvalho Paz de Souza, Gleica Maria Correia Martins, Reginaldo Carvalho and Cícero Almeida
Abstract: Syagrus coronata is an endemic palm of Brazil, widely distributed in the “Caatinga” and Atlantic Forest domains, with significant socioeconomic and ecological importance. The objective was to estimate the polymorphism in individuals from six locations across “Caatinga” and Atlantic Forest domains, using microsatellite markers and variant detection through sanger sequencing of chloroplast sequences. A diversity panel of 107 accessions revealed the formation of two population groups, suggesting low genetic differentiation between the locations. Most of the genetic variation is found within the samples (89.47% for SSR data and 70.82% for chloroplast data). However, private alleles were found in some populations, suggesting that germplasm bank may include all the populations. We conclude that the genetic diversity of S. coronata is distributed across the two biomes, suggesting that the species has high gene flow, which contributes to conservation strategies.