Genetic variability revealed by microsatellite markers in a germplasm collection of Jatropha curcas L. in Brazil: an important plant for biofuels

Abstract We evaluated the genetic variability of a collection of Jatropha curcas germplasm, represented by 93 accessions, using microsatellite markers. Among the 60 markers tested, five of them detected polymorphisms, with a total of 11 alleles and mean of 2.2 alleles per loci. These five markers enabled the quantification of genetic variability through estimates of expected (He=0.42) and observed (Ho=0.64) heterozygosity, Shannon-Weaver index (H'=0.62), coefficient of inbreeding (ƒ=-0.44) and the formation of 11 clusters. Simultaneously, 14 accessions randomly sampled among the 93 and represented by seven plants each, were analyzed with these same five markers to quantify the within and between variability. Most of the genetic variation (92.58%) was contained within the accessions. These analyses revealed, for the first time, expressive genetic variability to be explored in this collection. The accessions UFVJC 05, 07, 12, 18, and 53 presented expressive variability among them with potential for the constitution of a base population for the breeding program.