Filogenia e distribuição geográfica de Chrysophyllum L. com ênfase na seção Villocuspis A. DC. (Sapotaceae)

Abstract

Sapotaceae compasses 60 genders and 1343 species, distributed in the pantropical region. The family's infrageneric relations still present themselves uncertain, due mainly to the limited knowledge of the group. The Chrysophyllum’s gender stands out for its size, being the second largest within the family, with 97 pantropicais’s species and also for exhibiting an elevated number of Brazilian representatives, with 31 species, of which 14 being endemic. Among the Chrysophyllum’s six sections, Villocuspis sticks out for possessing six Brazilian especies (5 of which are endemic) and for being the only section in which every specie occurs in the Atlantic forest. Due to the Villocuspis section occurring in a highly degraded biome - caused by the uncontrolled advance of urbanization and anthropogenic influence on forest fragments - four of its species find themselves in the red list of endangered species and one is extinct, according to IUCN. Villocuspis does not stand out in numerical terms in Brazil, however, its species deserve attention in virtue of the previously detected threat, as well as being, a group lacking in taxonomic and phylogenetic’s studies. Hence, this dissertation had as an aim perform a molecular phylogeny for Chrysophyllum, with an emphasis on the Villocuspis section, in order to discuss interspecific and intergeneric relations (Chapter I) and to provide data on the potential geographic distribution and to evaluate the conservation status of C. januariense Eichler, one of the species included in the section, which is in the category "extinct" by the IUCN (Chapter II).