GENETIC DIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF MANGABA (Hancornia speciosa Gomes), AN EXOTIC BRAZILIAN TROPICAL SPECIES

Twenty genotypes from natural population of mangaba located in Itaporanga D’Ajuda (Sergipe state - Brazil) were subjected to analysis using RAPD markers. Polymorphism, genetic diversity and structure parameters were determined to characterize the differences between plants. 60 DNA fragments were generated by 10 primers, 85% of which were polymorphic. Results show a quantitative genetic diversity value of 0.35 and a Shannon index of 0.46 in the population. The similarity among the specimens according to Jaccard’s coefficient ranged from 0.36 to 0.87. Using cluster analysis it was possible to indentify five groups. Three individuals also stand out since they presented significant divergence from the groups. The PCoA formed four groups, with three of the groups isolated from the others. This investigation showed that genetic diversity was relatively large among these individuals. In addition, the results demonstrated that RAPD markers are a useful tool for evaluating the genetic diversity and relationships among mangaba