Macawbest: a comprehensive transcriptome of macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata)

Abstract

The use of different raw materials for the production of biodiesel is very welcome in the country since the large expanse of arable land and diverse climate to provide opportunities to different regions of the country participate in the production of raw grease required. The macaúba (macaw palm) is a palm native to higher occurrence in Brazil, present in all regions and even in areas with water deficit, whose high fruit yield with high oil content in the pulp and seed to qualify it as one of main alternatives for the supply of raw material for biodiesel. The first commercial plantings were made about four years from seedlings seeds of native plants. Thus, characterization studies of genetic diversity and pre-breeding, the basis for a breeding program of the species only began in the last decade, with the selection of donnor trees and assessment of their progeny. In this context the objective of the project is to produce the transcriptomic atlas, through the methodology of RNA sequencing from Illumina platform, identify different genes expressed in different tissues, perform functional annotation and establishing genetic relationship between macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata) and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.). For this, the cDNA will be synthesized from RNA extracted from tissues of root, stem, leaf, flower and fruit at different stages of development. The proposal aims to find candidate genes for use in macaúba breeding program and the development of molecular markers for characterization studies of genetic diversity, marker assisted selection and mapping populations. (AU)