The main objective of this research was to analyze and quantify the genetic variability within and between populations of arnica using RAPD markers. Four populations from Federal District area, Brazil were sampled: Parque Nacional de Brasília - (2 ), Fazenda Água Limpa -UnB (1), and Reserva do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) (1). Leaves from twenty-four individuals from each population were collected and preserved under refrigeration. Fifteen primers were selected from 105 tested, totalizing 60 polymorphic bands. Scored RAPD markers were analyzed using NTSYS and Amova. The results indicated four consistent clusters, with dissimilarity index varying from 62 to 71%. The Mantel test indicates a cophenetic correlation (r-0.82), which means that the geographic distances are correlated to the genetic distances. An AMOVA analysis presented 35.7% variation among populations, and 64.3% within populations, showing a high variation among populations. This is an important result for conservation strategy for such species considered vulnerable to extinction.
cerrado; medicinal plants; molecular markers
