The objective of this study was to estimate the variability and divergence among fiber palm tree genotypes promising for fruit yield by RAPD markers. Leaf samples from 29 plants, selected in the Active Germplasm Bank from Embrapa Eastern Amazon, were collected based in the fruit yield, but with variations by other characteristics related to production. The samples of these DNA were amplified with 24 primers and analyzed by three multivariate methods using the matrix of genetic dissimilarities obtained by arithmetic complement of the Jaccard index. 332 molecular markers expressing polymorphism of 98.5% were obtained. The RAPD markers presented efficient discriminating power among the 29 evaluated genotypes, determining an average genetic distance among them of 51.7% ranging from 26.9% to 71.5%. The highest mean of distance occurred between genotype 22 and the remaining genotypes, with 66.8%. Eight and fifteen different clusters, possibly heterotic groups were formed by the UPGMA and Tocher methods, respectively. The principal coordinate analyses confirmed the great variability among genotypes. The markers used permitted identification of variability and genetic divergence among genotypes with absence of duplicates, allowing the indication of this material in breeding programs for fruit yield.
Palm; Amazon; polymorphism; dissimilarity; multivariate analysis
