Genetic diversity and mating system of Copaifera langsdorffii (Leguminosae/Caesalpinioideae)

Copaifera langsdorffii, locally known as copaíba, is a valuable tropical tree with medicinal properties of its oil. We studied the genetic variation, genetic structure, and the mating system of trees in stands of C. langsdorffii (Leguminosae/Caesalpinioideae) located in an extensive area between the Pardo and Mogi-Guaçu basins in São Paulo State, Brazil, and their offspring, conserved in an ex situ germplasm bank at the University of São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil, using six microsatellite loci. Leaves were collected from 80 seed trees and from 259 offspring and their DNA extracted. A total of 140 and 175 alleles were found in the seed trees and their offspring, respectively. Low genetic differentiation was observed between stands, indicating intense gene flow due to efficient pollen dispersion vectors. An estimation of the outcrossing rate showed that these stands are outcrossed (tm = 0.98, P > 0.05). The mean variance of the effective population size of each family in two of the stands was 3.69 and 3.43, while the total effective population size retained in the germplasm bank was between 81 and 96. The paternity correlation was low, ranging from 0.052 to 0.148, demonstrating that the families implanted in this germplasm bank are composed predominantly of half-sibs.