Genetic divergence in conilon coffee revealed by RAPD markers.

This study aimed to evaluate the genetic variability of 49 Coffea canephora clones of the breeding program of the Capixaba Institute of Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (Incaper) based on RAPD markers. Thirty-one primers were used with polymorphism patterns that generated 333 markers, of which 231 (69.4%) were polymorphic. The group of genotypes based on the UPGMA algorithm and Tocher optimization methods detected high divergence in the genotypes. It was found that the component clones of each clone variety recommended by Incaper are distributed in various genetically dissimilar groups, in spite of common phenotypic traits. The relatively wide genetic diversity observed here demonstrates the importance of hybridizations between these germplasms. The RAPD markers efficiently estimated the genetic divergence in the 49 C. canephora genotypes studied.