Molecular Study on Endemic Cattleya Species from Brazilian Flora

Abstract

The orchids are known for its beautiful flowers, the genetic recombination ability and the lack of its defined taxonomic classification of the Orchidaceae family. Phylogenetic studies using molecular technics allow additional taxonomy understanding. ISSR molecular markers can determine the phylogenetic relationships among species and individuals of the same species. In this study the patterns of polymorphism were compared in subjects of Cattleya guttata, C. tigrina and C. leopoldii in order to find variations in the germplasm which can contribute to elucidate phylogenetic issues. Results were obtained using 13 primers in ten subjects of each species. They increased 97 loci being 96.9% polymorphic for the three studied species. It is concluded that the protocol was effective for the identification of fragments in all studied species. The analysis of total banding pattern suggests that C. guttata and C. leopoldii are molecularly related to each other and more distant from C. tigrina.