Levantamento da ocorrência de ervas-de-passarinho na microrregião mata alagoana

Abstract

Parasitic plants are defined as organisms that necessarily need to be associated with a host to ensure its life cycle. They can be classified according to their level of nutritional dependence and can be considered hemiparasites, holoparasites and achlorophylls. Some hemiparasites are represented by the botanical families Loranthaceae, Santalaceae and Viscaceae, found parasitizing trees and shrubs, extracting water and mineral salts from their hosts through their modified roots called haustoria. Given the above, this study aims to survey the occurrence of mistletoe present in the State of Alagoas and their respective hosts, identifying the botanical species based on morphological and molecular characterization. Exsiccates of Lorantaceae, Santalaceae and Viscaceae deposited in the MAC herbarium of the Environmental Institute of Alagoas – IMA, from collection expeditions carried out in the territory of Alagoas, were analyzed. And carrying out collections in the microregion Mata Alagoana. Total DNA was individually extracted from each plant sample, used as a template for PCR amplification of the ITS region sequence and sequenced. It was possible to identify four species of Struthanthus parasitizing different hosts, as well as the species Passovia pyrifolia and Psittacanthus dichroos belonging to the Loranthaceae family. For the Viscaceae family, two species of the genus Phoradendron were identified with a common host.

Keywords: Hemiparasite. Mistletoe. Molecular characterization.