Monitoring and enlarging of germplasm bank of medicinal plants from the Cerrado

Abstract

Species trom the Bignoneaceae family were selected as target for this proposal due to their economical use as source of bioactive molecules, also because they are under the risk of extinction. The aim of this work is to establish an in vitro germoplasm bank of the remaining accesses of Zeyheria montana, Anemopaegma arvense and Jacaranda decurrens, native to five regions in São Paulo state. Studies on viability and preservation of seeds will be performed and concurrently monitoring of genetic material through RAPD and AFLP molecular markers will provide relevant information about genetic variability thus helping in the choice of individuaIs to characterize the diversity of the germoplasm bank. Besides, analysis of chemical markers (active compounds) of the three target species will be conduct in parallel in order to identify the different chemotypes and to find correlation between geographic location, genetic variability and yield in bioactive substances of each species. The final purpose is the in vitro preservation of individuals which represent the existent variability and chemotypes of each site of origin. Overall results will permit the conception of a model for further studies on preservation of medicinal species of the "Cerrado". (AU)