TITLE:
Genetic Diversity Analysis of Jatropha Species from Costa Rica Using AFLP Markers
AUTHORS:
Roberto Avendaño, Elmer García Díaz, Marta Valdez-Melara, Nefertiti Chaves Solano, Aníbal Mora Villalobos, Francisco Aguilar Cascante, Bruce Williamson Benavides, Laura Y. Solís-Ramos
KEYWORDS:
Jatropha spp., AFLP, Molecular Markers, Polymorphism, Genetic Diversity
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.6 No.14,
September
28,
2015
ABSTRACT: The genetic diversity from species of the genus Jatropha collected from Costa Rica was analyzed by
AFLP (amplified fragments length polymorphism). The study consisted of 114 accessions from 15
populations of 4 different species: J. curcas, J. costaricensis, J. gossypifolia and J. stevensii. These
were collected from different locations in Costa Rica. Three different primers were used, resulting
in 428 loci, and they were classified in three categories: unique and double bands (UBD), rare
bands (RB) and shared bands (SB). The UBD were excluded for a total of 339 polymorphic loci
used for the UPGMA dendrogram and principal component analysis (PCA). The species that obtained
the highest average of polymorphic loci was J. curcas, which obtained the highest percentage
of polymorphic loci (80.24%), followed by J. gossypifolia (79.35%), J. costaricensis (78.76%),
and finally J. stevensii (40.71%). The average for the polymorphic loci was of 69.76%. Thus, the
phylogeny of the Jatropha species in Costa Rica was elucidated, showing J. curcas more related to J.
stevensii and this one with J. costaricensis, and J. gossypifolia as the most distant member of the
genus. For the best of our knowledge this is the first report of a genetic analysis of J. costaricensis
and J. stevensii. The obtained molecular evidence showed high levels of polymorphisms in the
present study compared with reports from Africa, India, and China. The molecular diversity estimated
in our analysis, together with agronomical or morphological data, can be very useful for
plant breeding programs, given the importance of Jatropha species in oil production. Interestingly,
Central American Jatropha material can be used to increase the genetic base of J. curcas populations
localized in Asia and Africa, where reduced genetic diversity has been reported.