In the present study, ten RAPD primers were used to assess molecular polymorphism in twenty Jatropha curcas genotypes. A total of 47 amplified products were obtained out of which 44 were polymorphic and 3 were monomorphic. Average polymorphism across twenty genotypes was found to be 93.61 %. For the genotypes tested, 6 to 11 bands were obtained, with an average of 7.83 bands per primer. The siz...

We report here on the characterization of a cDNA library from seeds of Jatropha curcas L. at three stages of fruit maturation before yellowing. We sequenced a total of 2200 clones and obtained a set of 931 non-redundant sequences (unigenes) after trimming and quality control, ie, 140 contigs and 791 singlets with PHRED quality ≥10. We found low levels of sequence redundancy and extensive metabo...

Jatropha curcas has a high biofuel oil content, which could replace polluting fuels, and has great potential for large scale monoculture cultivation in the conventional system. We explored the occurrence, spatial distribution and the functional response of the main phytophagous species of this plant and their natural enemies to explore the potential for conservative biological control. We began...

Seed size is a major determinant of seed yield but few is known about the genetics controlling of seed size in plants. Phytohormones cytokinin and brassinosteroid were known to be involved in the regulation of herbaceous plant seed development. Here we identified a homolog of Auxin Response Factor 19 (JcARF19) from a woody plant Jatropha curcas and genetically demonstrated its functions in cont...

The genetic variability of the Brazilian physic nut (Jatropha curcas) germplasm bank (117 accessions) was assessed using a combination of phenotypic and molecular data. The joint dissimilarity matrix showed moderate correlation with the original matrices of phenotypic and molecular data. However, the correlation between the phenotypic dissimilarity matrix and the genotypic dissimilarity matrix ...

Genetic variation in the genome of a given species is the basis for natural selection and genetic improvement through selective breeding. We applied 29 microsatellites located on 11 linkage groups to study genetic variation in 276 accessions of J. curcas collected from nine locations in five countries in South America, Asia and Africa to initiate a breeding program. To our surprise, we did not ...

Due to its large number of potential utilizations Jatropha curcas L. (physic nut, purging nut), a tropical plant cultivated in many Latin American, Asian and African countries, has become topic of various research projects. Nutritional as well as technical applications, however, are restricted due to the plant’s toxicity. The seed oil contains phorbol esters, a family of compounds known to caus...

The objective was to relate the coloration of fruits of Jatropha curcas L during the maturation process with morphometric (fruits and seeds) and germinative characteristics (seeds). Fruits were collected at various maturation stages from mast trees located in Eldorado/MS, and six maturation stages were visually classified based on fruit’s epicarp color. Epicarp digital colorimetry was used to c...

Use and management of jatropha residue is currently an important global issue for attaining sustainability in biofuel production from Jatropha curcas on wastelands. Perhaps, knowledge about the decomposition characteristics and nutrient release pattern from jatropha residues amended soils are lacking. Thus, the objective of present research was to characterize the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mi...

BACKGROUND Jatropha curcas L. (Jatropha) is a potential biodiesel crop that can be cultivated on marginal land because of its strong tolerance to drought and low soil nutrient content. However, seed yield remains low. To enhance the commercial viability and green index of Jatropha biofuel, a systemic and coordinated approach must be adopted to improve seed oil and biomass productivity. Here, we...