Abstract

MONTALVO FERNANDEZ, Grecia et al. First report of the employment of AFLP markers in Asteraceae in Cuba. Rev. colomb. biotecnol [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.2, pp.28-37. ISSN 0123-3475.

Rhodogeron coronopifolius Griseb., is a specie of Asteraceae family, in critical danger of extinction. It is an endemic of Villa Clara city in the central region of Cuba. Its inhabits sub thorny xeromorphic heath on serpentine soil. Only five natural populations exist included in a protected area, the main threat cause is the fragmentation of its habitat for antropics activities. Due to their conservation status, it becomes necessary to analyze the genetic diversity of the natural populations in order to generate basic information usefull to apply a conservation strategy. The main goal of this work was to evaluate in a preliminary manner the genetic diversity of four populations of this specie using AFLP markers (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism). Two primer combinations were used and the polymorphism percentage was evaluated as well as the similarity among the individuals. A total of 165 loci were obtained of which 78,7% were polymorphic. The population with higher polymorphism was Corojito with 85,2%. High level of polymorphism was observed among population showing values between 75 and 87%. The similarity among the individuals was also high with an average of 0,74. The genetic grouping was independent to the origin of the population. This suggesting that gene flow exists among the populations, those which share more than 80% of the alleles analyzed. This is important for the in situ maintenance of the specie and to take decisions for their conservation.

Keywords : Populations; Rhodogeron coronopifolius; threatened; endemic; fragmentation; polymorphism.

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