Caracterização morfológica e molecular de variedades de pinheira (Annona squamosa L.)

Abstract

Sugar apple (Annona squamosa L.) is a tropical fruit tree of the Annonaceae family that produces soft and delicate fruits, being considered one of the best on Annona genus. In Brazil, sugar apple has an apparently homogeneous population and its propagation hás been made by seeds. However, considering that this is a preferentially allogamous species, which has a protogynous dicogamy, and their populations are interbreeding naturally for centuries, it is expected that arose in this period interesting genotypic variations that can be identified and subsequently used in future breeding programs. It is believed that the identification of morphological and molecular markers to identify such variations can be used as auxiliar tools to plant breeders. This study aimed to characterize morphologically and molecularly sugar apple accessions from a germplasm collection of the CECA-UFAL using as a basis a set of morphological descriptors developed to Annona cherimola Mill. by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and molecular markers type microsatellites (SSR). The results showed that the morphological descriptors were able to separate the sugar apple accessions studied in four different groups, thus establishing new information about the bank genotypes. On the other hand, the molecular characterization with the SSR markers was not efficient to separate the same genotypes, thus requiring an adjustment in the primers used.