Genetic diversity of sacha inchi accessions detected by AFLP molecular markers

Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) is a species native to the Amazon region for which studies of genetic diversity are required to ensure the success in programs to breed cultivars for agriculture. The purpose of this study was to assess the genetic diversity among sacha inchi accessions using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Thirty-seven accessions of the sacha inchi germplasm bank of Embrapa Amazonia Ocidental were analyzed. The markers were identified with four primer combinations. The percentage of polymorphic loci was estimated and the similarity of accessions analyzed by calculating the arithmetic complement of the Jaccard coefficient and cluster analysis. The primers revealed 191 polymorphic loci. The parameters of the similarity values in class intervals were on average 0.739 and variance 0.01. The estimates of the number and percentage of the genetic distance values per class interval were highest in the range of 0.7 to 0.79, (248 and 37.24%, respectively); the highest percentage, 69.22%, corresponded to values of genetic distance above 0.7, showing mostly high genetic diversity among the accessions. The results indicated a geographic structure among accessions in relation to their origin, generating consistent and valuable data for breeding programs and species conservation.