Molecular characterization of Butia capitata populations do sul do Brasil atraves de marcadores AFLP

The Butia genus (Arecaceae) is a small genus with subtropical species distributed in South America widely used as an ornamental plant. Besides, its fruits are appreciated for its unique flavor and aroma. But in some regions of the state of Rio Grande do Sul natural populations suffer with the progress of rural activities and development of buildings. The aim of this study, therefore, was characterizing eight populations of Butia capitata through AFLP markers. By analysis of molecular variance was possible to verify that 83.68% of the genetic variability is attributed to variation among populations and 13.67% is attributed to differences among populations within regions. In the pair-wise analysis, differences between 15 populations were significant, with an average of 14.72% of molecular variation attributed to differences between populations. This result indicates the presence of genetic variability distributed among all populations, without subdivision arising from geographical isolation. Index terms: palms, genetic divergence, genetic resources, molecular markers. O genero Butia (Arecaceae) e um pequeno genero subtropical com especies no sul da America do Sul, considerado ornamental. Alem disso, seus frutos sao apreciados pelo sabor e aroma peculiares. Porem, no Rio Grande do Sul, as populacoes naturais sofrem com o avanco das atividades rurais e da construcao imobiliaria. O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar oito populacoes de Butia capitata ocorrentes no Rio Grande do Sul, atraves de marcadores moleculares do tipo AFLP. Pela analise molecular da variancia, foi possivel verificar que 83,68% da variabilidade genetica sao atribuidos a variacao entre populacoes e 13,67% sao atribuidos a diferencas entre populacoes dentro de regioes. A analise comparativa entre as oito populacoes feita de duas a duas demonstrou que sao significativas as diferencas entre 15 populacoes, com media de 14,72% da variacao molecular atribuida as diferencas entre populacoes. Este resultado indica a presenca de variabilidade genetica distribuida entre todas as populacoes, sem subdivisao decorrente de isolamento geografico. Termos para indexacao: palmeiras, divergencia genetica, recursos geneticos, marcadores moleculares.