Evaluación del germoplasma de Ilex paraguariensis e Ilex dumosa (Aquifoliaceae)

ilex paraguariensis and i. dumosa are species with great economic relevance in argentina. both species share several features of their biology, though they differ in phytochemical composition and in their resistance to biotic and abiotic factors. the aim of the present work is to evaluate the structure of the genetic diversity of the plants kept at the germplasm bank of yerba mate (eeintaca) and also of commercial materials of yerba mate, through a re-analysis of aflp data and a characterization of the nucleotide sequences of selected aflp bands. for i. dumosa we have detected a molecular variation level two times higher than the value obtained for i. paraguariensis and a lower number of diagnostic bands in respect to the latter species. reported nucleotide sequences, characterized using bioinformatic tools, are new sequences for the genus ilex. our results suggest that specimens of i. dumosa studied herein represent an interesting reservoir of genetic variability, highly adequate for improvement of yerba mate lines. moreover, our results support the reinforcement of conservation strategies aiming at the expansion of the i. paraguariensis genetic pool deposited in the germplasm bank.