Genomics and population structure of Macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata), aiming to subsidize the domestication of the species.

• Grant number: 17/22987-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2019
• End date: September 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Maria Imaculada Zucchi
• Grantee: Brenda Gabriela Díaz Hernández
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/23591-7 - Selection of donnor trees of macaúba aiming to biodiesel for forming garden seed and commercial seedlings production preserving genetic variability, AP.TEM

Abstract

The growing global demand for vegetable oils for application in the food and oleochemicalindustries, as well as to guide global public policies for replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources, should lead to increased planting of oilseeds worldwide. Currently, 65% of the vegetable oil produced in the world is derived from only two sources, palm oil and soybean, indicating the need to diversify the oleaginous raw material. In this sense, the macaúba palm (Acrocomia aculeata) has aroused the interest of a large number of scientists, mainly in Brazil, because this species displays both productivityand oil quality similar to palm oil, and ocurrs spontaneously in a wide range of tropical and subtropical environments in the Americas, especially in cerrado areas. This growing interest has increased the commercial plantation of this species in Brazil, and preliminary production results are quite promising.Considered a species of incipient domestication, commercial cultivars are not yet available, and the challenges regarding the consolidation of the production chain of this species deserve the attention of the scientific community. In this context, in view of the importance of the domestication and genetic improvement of the macaúba palm, the aim of this research project is to better understand the population structure of Acrocomia aculeata in its area of occurrence. From a broad germplasm from several American countries, genomic data will be generated by the ddRAD-seq technique and genetic diversity will be derived from microsatellite markers, in order to analyze and understand the content and structuring of the genetic diversity of macaúba, with the aim of elucidating the genetic relationships between materials from different countries, identify the occurrence of possible interspecific natural hybrids, estimate the rate of species crossing and characterize the genetic variability of progenies derived from plants selected for high oil production. These results will support the pre-breeding and breeding programs of the species.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DIAZ, BRENDA GABRIELA; ZUCCHI, MARIA IMACULADA; ALVES-PEREIRA, ALESSANDRO; DE ALMEIDA, CALEO PANHOCA; LIMA MORAES, ALINE COSTA; VIANNA, SUELEN ALVES; AZEVEDO-FILHO, JOAQUIM; COLOMBO, CARLOS AUGUSTO. Genome-wide SNP analysis to assess the genetic population structure and diversity of Acrocomia species. PLoS One, v. 16, n. 7, JUL 20 2021. (17/22987-2)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

HERNÁNDEZ, Brenda Gabriela Díaz. Genomics and population structure of Macaúba [Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Mart.], aimed the species domestication. 2020. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia Campinas, SP.