Prospection and genetic diversity of bromeliad genera in fragmented areas

Abstract

The bromeliad family comprises approximately 3,000 species distributed in 58 genera and 3 subfamilies: Pitcairnioideae, Bromelioideae and Tillandsioideae. The increasing demand of the market for bromeliads has been responsible for increasing the production and sale of these plants. However, illegal harvesting is still dramatically reducing existing species. This fact, coupled with the devastation of Brazilian ecosystems, has caused irreparable losses in diversity. Thus, having a germplasm bank with conserved genetic material for future studies is very important. The use of molecular markers, together with the description of the vegetative and reproductive characters of a species, is an asset for studies of natural populations for conservation programs and assists in properly classifying plant species. The aim of this work was to characterize various genera of bromeliads by ISSR molecular markers and morphological characteristics. The samplings were carried out in four municipalities of the State of Sergipe (Itabaiana, Frei Paulo, Simão Dias and Poço Redondo), whose locations were mapped using GPS. Individuals were transferred and kept in a greenhouse, thereby comprising an Active Germplasm Bank (AGB). For the molecular analyses, young leaves were collected and used for DNA extraction. Eleven ISSR primers were used to characterize the prospected accessions. The data generated by the ISSR markers and morphological characteristics enabled the identification and separation of the bromeliad accessions of the AGB.