Mating System Analysis and Genetic Diversity of Parkia multijuga Benth. One Native Tree Species of the Amazon.

The Amazonian native tree species Parkia multijuga has potential silvicultural characteristics that can be utilized to productive plantations. Understanding its mating system is necessary to delineate the methods for the breeding of the species, the collection of seeds for conservation, and the use of seedlings for production plantations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the mating system and population genetic diversity of P. multijuga, using molecular markers. The DNA of 221 plants was extracted and genotyped with nine microsatellite loci using capillary electrophoresis in an automated DNA sequencer. The estimates for single and multilocus crossing rates were 0.998 and 1.0, respectively. The paternity correlation was low ( r ^ p (m) = 0.307). The fixation index (f) showed values below zero, indicating an excess of heterozygotes. The cluster number K = 2 shows a better grouping among families for genetic structure. P. multijuga families consist mainly of half-sibs, and the reproductive strategy of the species is allogamy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]