Los códigos de barra de ADN como herramienta en la identificación de las especies del género Micropholis (Griseb.) Pierre ((Sapotaceae)

Abstract

The genus Micropholis (Sapotaceae) is diverse and ecologically important in lowland tropical wet neotropical forests. In general, species are difficult to identify in the absence of reproductive traits and in juvenile stages. As a result we may underestimate the biodiversity of the forests where these species grow that is an impediment to forest management and conservation decision making. Alternative techniques to identify species are based on molecular characters using DNA barcoding. This study assessed the ability of molecular markers ITS2, matK and rbcL in differentiating species of the genus Micropholis. Neighbor-Joining analysis, maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference showed that ITS2 was the best marker for species identification with an efficiency of 70% in discriminating species, with sufficient interspecific and intraspecific divergence to identify 15 of the 20 species used in the analysis. The two additional chloroplast markers did not improve species determination. Thus, we propose ITS2 as a potential barcode marker for identifying species in Micropholis.