Genetic diversity assessment for Eugenia uniflora L., E. pyriformis Cambess., E. brasiliensis Lam. and E. francavilleana O. Berg neotropical tree species (Myrtaceae) with heterologous SSR markers

In this study, a set of nuclear microsatellite markers were transferred and characterized from two Myrtaceae sub-families to four neotropical Eugenia fruit tree species (E. uniflora L., E. pyriformis Cambess., E. brasiliensis Lam. and E. francavilleana O. Berg), which are neglected and underutilized foods of great ecological and potential economic value found in the Atlantic forest regions of South America. Leaf samples of mature E. uniflora, E. pyriformis, E. brasiliensis and E. francavilleana trees, which are popularly termed “pitanga”, “uvaia”, “grumixama” and “guamirim”, respectively, were collected from two areas greatly impacted by the agricultural practices of the sugar cane industry in the state of Sao Paulo in the southeastern region of Brazil. A total of 19 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from the Myrtaceae sub-families Leptospermoideae and Myrtoideae were tested, and 15 polymorphic heterologous SSR markers were identified. The expected heterozygosities for E. uniflora, E. pyriformis, E. brasiliensis and E. francavilleana were 0.64, 0.75, 0.54 and 0.71, respectively. These results suggest that these SSR markers may be useful for population genetic studies. A total of 4, 9, 11 and 4 heterologous SSR polymorphic markers for E. uniflora, E. pyriformis, E. brasiliensis and E. francavilleana, respectively, are now available for genetic diversity, gene flow and mating system analyses in these species.