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In vitro conservation and genetic diversity of threatened species of Melocactus (Cactaceae)

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Abstract

The high endemism, the natural habitat degradation, and the over-collection for ornamental purposes have led some species such as Melocactus paucispinus and Melocactus glaucescens to be threatened with extinction. The use of in vitro conservation techniques, such as slow growth storage, promotes the preservation of genetic diversity with integrity. The goal of this study was to establish a strategy for in vitro conservation of apical segments of the cladode of M. paucispinus and M. glaucescens and evaluate the genetic diversity of individuals from in vitro germinated plants. For such purpose, different concentrations of the plant regulator ancymidol and the osmotic agent sucrose on the inhibition of the in vitro growth were tested, and the genetic diversity of M. paucispinus and M. glaucescens individuals stored in vitro was evaluated. Sucrose showed higher efficiency in the reduction of growth than ancymidol for both species. However, due to the reduction in survival percentage, the use of sucrose over 75 g L−1 in the in vitro conservation of both species for 360 days is not recommended. In the genetic diversity analysis, 76.92% of polymorphic loci (P), expected heterozygosity (He) = 0.276 and Shannon index (S) = 0.414 were observed for M. paucispinus. For M. glaucescens, the observed values were P = 95.38%, He = 0.228 and S = 0.369. These values observed here were higher than those previously found for the natural populations of these species, which demonstrated that this in vitro collection showed genetic diversity and can be used in management and reintroduction programs of these species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Delmar Lopes Alvim for the help during field work.

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES); the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB) (Grant No. PNE0020/2011); and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)—SiB-Br (Grand No. 504208/2012–8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Barão de Geremoabo Street, Ondina, Salvador, Bahia, CEP: 40170-115, Brazil

    Gabriela Torres-Silva, Alessandra Selbach Schnadelbach, Hédina Basile Bezerra & Sheila Vitória Resende

  2. Biologic Science Department, State University of Feira de Santana (UEFS), President Dutra Avenue, Santa Mônica, Feira de Santana, Bahia, CEP 44.055-000, Brazil

    Alone Lima-Brito

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  1. Gabriela Torres-Silva
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  2. Alessandra Selbach Schnadelbach
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  3. Hédina Basile Bezerra
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  4. Alone Lima-Brito
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  5. Sheila Vitória Resende
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Contributions

Conceptualization: SVR, GTS, and ALB; Methodology: SVR, GTS, and ASS; Formal analysis and investigation: GTS, HBB and SVR; Writing—original draft preparation: GTS and SVR; Writing—review and editing: GTS, ASS, HBB, ALB, and SVR; Funding acquisition: SVR and ASS; Resources: SVR and ASS; Supervision: SVR and ASS.

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Correspondence to Sheila Vitória Resende.

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Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

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Torres-Silva, G., Schnadelbach, A.S., Bezerra, H.B. et al. In vitro conservation and genetic diversity of threatened species of Melocactus (Cactaceae). Biodivers Conserv 30, 1067–1080 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02132-8

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