Genetics of Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil (Fabaceae) tree from Salta (Northwestern Argentina)

Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil is an important tree species for its cultural, economic, and medicinal uses in South America. The wood contains tannins, is hard and resistant to termites and is used in construction and furniture, as poles and for firewood. In popular medicine, it is used to treat respiratory injury and inflammations. It is considered a sacred tree by local cultures. Its seeds have been used for over 3.000 years by shamans in rituals and popular medicine (1). This species is categorized as "least concern" with low risk of extinction (IUCN, 2012) (2). In order to characterize A. colubrina populations, we collected fruits from four different sites (San Bernardo, El Cebilar, Metán and El Gallinato) within the species distribution area in Salta Province, Northwestern Argentina. A total of 75 fruits and seeds per site were collected and described using morphological (fruits size and weight; seed weight and number per fruit) and genetic descriptors (ITS-ribosomic DNA isolation, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis). Our previous results, obtained from a few number of individuals, showed that the San Bernardo population and Metan population are more similar each other as well as El Gallinato and El Cebilar populations, both at morphological and genetic levels (3). Currently, a greater number of individuals were analyzed at genetic level: 40 samples were collected from the 4 studied zones. Preliminary outcomes, obtained through the partial phylogenetic analysis, comfirmed the similarity, indicating that the genetic characteristics of A.colubrina populations follow the geographic distribution of the plant and therefore the geographic variations linked to climate. 1 Carod-Artal & Vásquez-Cabrera, 2007 2 IUCN 2012 3 De Viana M.L. et al (2014). Rev. Biol.Trop. June 62 (2). 757-767.