SELECTION OF ISSR MOLECULAR PRIMERS FOR STUDIES OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN Handroanthus impetiginosus (MART. EX DC.) MATTOS1

- Handroanthus impetiginosus is a tree species with ecological and economic potential. Despite that, in the Brazilian market, its wood is heavily exploited in the illegal trade. Therefore, studies on genetic diversity are necessary in order to propose strategies for conservation of this species. Thus, the aim of this study was to select Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) primers for genetic diversity studies applied to the forest population of H. impetiginosus. For this, 30 ISSR molecular primers were tested in 30 individuals, evaluating the total number of loci, polymorphism rate and polymorphic information content, as well as marker index and resolving power. Eight primers were selected for having a better amplification pattern, which provided 62 loci. The polymorphic information content of the primers ranged from 0.34 to 0.49, while the marker index (MI) averaged 3.20, with resolving power (RP) of 2.40, Nei's diversity (He) of 0.35 and Shannon index (I) of 0.52. The results show that the primers UBC 807, 809, 818, 824, 857, 860, 873 and 881 are efficient for quantifying the genetic diversity of H. impetiginosus. These results can contribute to supporting strategies aimed at the conservation of this species and selection of parent trees.