Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a tuberous plant belonging to the Araceae family whose tuber is the 14th most consumed food crop in the world. Characterized as an unconventional vegetable, taro is grown in Brazil as a subsistence crop, but in recent years began to gain commercial importance, especially in the states of Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. To avoid loss of genetic diversity of the local varieties traditionally grown in Brazil a core collection for taro germplasm has been developed by the Instituto Capixaba de Pesquisa, Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural do estado do Espirito Santo (Incaper). The aim of this study was to perform a molecular characterization of the seven regional core collections. Genetic diversity of the cultivars was investigated by using SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats) polymorphisms, in seven loci (Xuqtem55, Xuqtem73, Xuqtem84, Xuqtem88, Xuqtem91, Xuqtem97 and Xuqtem110). Genetic diversity of the cultivars, based on the seven microsatellite alleles, was evaluated by using the software GelCompar II, showed that the loci Xuqtem73, Xuqtem88 and Xuqtem110 were the most informative, featuring 7, 10 and 8 alleles, respectively, a percentage of cultivars with polymorphic alleles of 85, 57 and 100% and identical PIC of 0.91. Based on Xuqtem110 locus analysis, the seven cultivars were grouped in two clusters. Chinês Regional Incaper cultivar was originated from Chinês cultivar which originated the São Bento cultivar, corroborating previous results. Macaquinho and Chinês cultivars were shown to be the primitive ones originating the allelic collections found in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Espirito Santo.
Colocasia esculenta; germplasm; cultivars
