Genetic diversity among natural populations of Mandevilla velutina

Abstract

Mandevilla velutina (Mart. Ex Stadelm) Woodson (Apocynaceae) is an endemic species in the Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah), whose alcoholic extracts and root infusions are extensively used in the popular medicine to treat inflammatory diseases and against snake bites. Currently, this species has been pointed out as crucial in conservation programs. Therefore, studies on its genetic diversity, as well as the development of methodology for in vitro conservation in germplasm banks are imperative to avoid its extinction. The objective of this work was to investigate the intra- and inter-populational genetic variability of M. velutina to enhance the representativeness of germplasm banks. To this aim, we used RAPD molecular markers. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the intra-populational (81.25%) was higher than the inter-populational (18.75%) variability, which was confirmed by the Nei's Diversity Index. The PHIst (0.188) and qP (0.1586) values of genetic variation indicated high population structuring. There seems to be no direct correlation between geographic distances and genetic similarity among the three studied populations.