Variabilidade genética e morfológica em populações de handroanthus ochraceus (bignoniaceae) com sistemas reprodutivos e ploidias distintos

Abstract

Apomixis is an asexual mechanism of reproduction through seed formation with clonal embryos. The high rate of polyembryonic seeds is usually an indicative for the occurrence of sporophytic apomixis and in Bignoniaceae the expression of sporophytic apomixis seems to be related to polyploidy. Handroanthus ochraceus and H. chrysotrichus are two tree species of Bignoniaceae that area morphologically related, which usually leads to identification problems. Handroanthus ochraceus has self-incompatible non-apomictic and monoembryonic populations and self-fertile sporophytic apomictic and polyembryonic populations. H. chrysotrichus has only self-fertile, sporophytic apomictic and polyembryonic populations recognized until now. To understand the genetic and phenotypic consequences of this reproductive mosaic in these populations it were conducted molecular and morphological analysis in the present study. The aims of molecular analyzes were to verify the genetic variability of H. ochraceus populations, compare the genetic diversity parameters investigating the propose of a possible relationship between the reproductive systems and genetic diversity in this species and still understand the possible relationships between apomictic and non-apomictic populations. The ten primers resulted in 104 fragments and the genetic diversity parameters showed a high mean for the populations (P = 66.35%, I = 0.341 and He = 0.227). In this study no clones were detected. The AMOVA analysis showed the higher variation within populations (61%), like allogamous populations. Cluster analysis and Bayesian analysis of genetic assignment determined two distinct groups, one consisting of two non-apomictic populations, Pires do Rio and Biribiri, and other gathering the apomictic populations and the non-apomictic from Uberlândia. The strong relationship between the self-incompatible population of Uberlândia and the apomictic populations indicates separate origins for non-apomictic populations of H. ochraceus. This relationship between self-incompatible population of Uberlândia and self-fertile populations suggest that these non-apomictic individuals may have the same genetic constitution of a possible ancestral population of self-fertile populations. The morphological analysis aimed to find differences between monoembryonic and polyembryonic populations of H. and morphological traits to separate the H. chrysotrichus and H. ochraceus. With this purpose non-apomictic monoembryonic populations and apomictic polyembryonic populations of H. ochraceus and an apomictic polyembryonic population of H. chrysotrichus were analyzed. Qualitative and quantitative morphological characteristics of leaf, flower and fruit were evaluated through univariate and multivariate analyzes. The pollen grain area, the length of peduncles, the width of stigma and the number of extrafloral nectaries in the calyx showed higher values for polyembryonic populations of H. ochraceus so they could be an evidence of polyploidy in H. ochraceus, since these larger measures may be associated with the cell volume increase usually entailed by polyploidy. Several morphological characters separated H. ochraceus from H. chrysotrichus, which can support the identification of individuals and the distinction between the two species. Therefore, the morphometric analysis determined that morphological features can make a distinction between mono and polyembryonic populations of H. ochraceus and the association of this methodology with reproductive biology analysis can be a complement for the determination of ploidies and reproductive system in both species.