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Genetic Diversity And Differentiation Of Brazilian Bitter And Sweet Manioc Varieties (Manihot Esculenta Crantz, Euphorbiaceae) Based On Ssr Molecular Markers, Gilda Santos Mühlen, Alessandro Alves-Pereira, Charles R. Clement, Teresa Losada Valle

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) originated in Amazonia and is the main staple for more than 800 million people worldwide; it also had a fundamental role as a source of calories for many pre-Columbian peoples, especially in Amazonia, where it was domesticated. There are two major groups of manioc varieties: sweet varieties have low amounts of toxic substances (cyanogenic glycosides) and may be consumed with minimum processing, while bitter varieties have a high degree of toxicity and must be detoxified to be safe before consumption. These groups are outcomes of divergent selective pressures. Natural selection probably maintains large amounts of cyanogenic …