Estimativas de parâmetros genéticos em progênies de Eremanthus erythropappus

Abstract

Candeia, Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) MacLeish, is one of the species belonging to the genus of highest natural occurrence in the states of the southeast and center-west regions of Brazil, typical of areas between forests and open fields. The commercial interest is for its wood and extraction of essential oil, of which the active principle is alpha-bisabolol, widely used in pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Despite the economic importance, breeding studies for this species are scarce, demanding the evaluation and knowledge on the genetic variability between progenies. The objective of this study was to determine the percentage of germination, detect genetic variability and estimate the genetic parameters of 22 half-sibling progenies of Eremanthus erythropappus in nursery, 100 days after sowing, and estimate the genetic parameters of 15 field progenies at 6, 15 and 22 months of age. After obtaining the evaluation data, the genetic studies were conducted by means of the REML/BLUP method using the SELEGEN software for both experiments. There were differences between progenies regarding the percentage of germination, existence of genetic variability between progenies in nursery and in the field, allowing the selection of potential progenies and the elimination of those with low performance, while analyzing the viability of seedling production.