GENETIC STRUCTURE OF MANGABA (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) POPULATIONS IN THE CERRADO REGION OF CENTRAL BRAZIL

Mangaba tree (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) is a fruit species with great potential for commercial exploitation, found in most regions of Brazil and highly frequent in the Cerrado biome. Information on the genetic variability in this biome is scarce. This study aimed at characterizing the genetic structure of eight populations found in the states of Goias, Bahia and Minas Gerais by using RAPD markers. Genetic variability was assessed by the analysis of variance on molecular data. A significant proportion of genetic variance was found among populations, corresponding to 19.6 % of the total variation. The correlation between the matrices of geographic and genetic distances was not significant, indicating that there is no spatial structure of the genetic variability among the populations, for the RAPD marker loci used here. The high variability suggests that a strategy for in situ, as well as ex situ conservation, must be based on sampling a large number of local populations.