Genetic diversity in a germplasm bank of Oenocarpus mapora (Arecaceae).

Oenocarpus mapora is an Amazonian palm species commonly used by native populations for food and in folk medicine. We measured genetic variability, using RAPD markers, of material kept in a germplasm bank composed of accessions sampled from the Brazilian Amazon. These included 74 individuals from 23 accessions sampled from 9 localities in three States of the Brazilian Amazon. Jaccard genetic similarities were calculated based on 137 polymorphic bands, amplified by 15 primers. Dendrograms constructed based on the genetic similarities among individuals and sample localities demonstrated genetic separation of Acre State from the States of Amazonas and Pará. Two models in three hierarchical levels were considered for AMOVA: one considering the grouping of sampling sites in each state, and the other considering sampling sites in each subgroup formed by the dendrograms. The first model showed no significant genetic variation among states. On the other hand, genetic variation among subgroups was significant. In this model, the within-sample-site genetic diversity was 47.15%, which is considered to be low, since O. mapora is allogamous. By means of Bayesian analysis, the sample sites were clustered into five groups, and their distribution was similar to what we found in the dendrograms based on genetic similarity.