Genetic Diversity And Molecular Phylogeny Of Populations Of Mauritia Flexuosa L.F. "Aguaje" Of The Peruvian Amazon

Mauritia flexuosa is an Amazonian plant species that forms extensive populations called "aguajales". As the Amazonian villagers employ several organs of M. flexuosa to meet their needs and for commercial purposes, a major negative impact on this species is being found. Despite this,the genetic diversity of this species in the Peruvian Amazon is unknown so far. Consequently, the management plans for the species would be limited without this information. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine the genetic diversity and molecular phylogeny of M. flexuosa populations adjacent to the Iquitos-Nauta road. The leaves were collected in six areas adjacent to the Iquitos-Nauta road. The purified DNA with standard protocols was amplified using the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique with two random primers. A total of 28 RAPD amplicons (26 polymorphic and 2 monomorphic) were generated. Intrapopulation genetic diversity of aguajales was three times higher (75 19%) than the interpopulation genetic diversity among the six populations of M. flexuosa (25 19%). Genetic differentiation among populations ranged from 0.0 to 0.6. Aguajales which were grouped into clades in the dendrogram for their greater genetic similarity had great geographical proximity. The genetic similarity among populations of M. flexuosa depends on the geographical distance, so that populations with high genetic similarity are closer together than those with low genetic similarity.