Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:18:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 IvandilsonPPM.pdf: 2514597 bytes, checksum: 43b19b0aeeca04f9d3f3a1defc9d82cc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-26 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / Brazil is one of the major centers of diversity for polyploid cotton plants; these plants belong to the genus Gossypium, which has three known species: G. hirsutum, G. barbadense and G. mustelinum. The Northeast is the only region where the three species occur, the last group being endemic. Northeast s cotton plants can be important sources of variability for genetic breeding. It is believed that great part of local diversity is being lost, due to economic, political, cultural and agricultural problems. In an attempt to mitigate this loss and delineate conservation strategies it is necessary to know how the species are found where they occur. The objective was to characterize and determine how plants are maintained in situ in the states of Maranh?o, Piau?, Cear?, Rio Grande do Norte and Para?ba at the beginning of the XXI century. The in situ characterization of G. hirsutum and G. barbadense was conducted through structured interviews with the cotton plants owners and through the analysis of the environment. The data were collected during expeditions undertaken between the years 2004 to 2005. Twenty-two plants were collected in the state of Para?ba, forty-four in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, one hundred and forty-six in the state of Cear?, forty in the state of Maranh?o and ninety-one plants in the state of Piau?. All plants collected in the states of Para?ba and Rio Grande do Norte belonged to moco type. Moco cotton plants also predominated in the other states, representing 92%, 62% and 78% of plants collected in Cear?, Piau? and Maranh?o, respectively. The other cotton plants collected belong to the species G. barbadense. The cotton plants were found in situ as dooryard plants, roads side, feral populations, cultivation or local varieties. Great part were dooryard plants (45.2%), being major in Piau? and Maranh?o. Cultivation predominated in Cear?; in Rio Grande do Norte feral populations were the most frequent and, in Para?ba, local varieties. The maintenance of moco plants is related, mainly, to the phytotherapic domestic use (20.9%) and to confection of lamp wicks (29.7%). Few inhabitants in Para?ba, Rio Grande do Norte, Piau? and none in Maranh?o used harvest the plants, storage the seeds or gin; however, in Cear?, 40.5% of owners affirmed that they harvested and commercialized the fiber. It was found that the maintenance of species is dependent of the fragile cultural habits of local inhabitants, therefore the maintenance in situ is not a suitable way to conservation of genetic resources. The efforts must be directed to the continuity of collections, maintenance and characterization ex situ / O Brasil ? um dos importantes centros de diversidade de algodoeiros polipl?ides pertencente ao g?nero Gossypium, com 3 esp?cies conhecidas: G. hirsutum, G. barbadense e G. mustelinum. O Nordeste ? a ?nica regi?o com ocorr?ncia das tr?s esp?cies, sendo a ?ltima end?mica. Os algodoeiros desta regi?o podem ser fontes importantes de variabilidade para o melhoramento gen?tico. Acredita-se que grande parte da diversidade local esteja sendo perdida, devido a problemas econ?micos, pol?ticos, culturais e agr?colas. Na tentativa de mitigar tal perda e delinear estrat?gias de conserva??o ? necess?rio conhecer como as esp?cies se encontram no local em que ocorrem. Objetivou-se caracterizar e determinar o modo com que as plantas s?o mantidas in situ nos estados do Maranh?o, Piau?, Cear?, Rio Grande do Norte e Para?ba no inicio do s?culo XXI. A caracteriza??o in situ de G. hirsutum e G. barbadense foi realizada por meio de entrevista estruturada com o propriet?rio e pela an?lise do ambiente. Os dados foram tomados durante expedi??es empreendidas entre os anos de 2004 a 2005. Foram coletadas 22 plantas no estado da Para?ba, 44 no estado do Rio Grande do Norte, 146 no estado do Cear?, 40 no estado do Maranh?o e 91 plantas no estado do Piau?. Todas as plantas coletadas nos estados da Para?ba e Rio Grande do Norte eram do tipo moc?. O algodoeiro moc? tamb?m predominou nos demais estados, representando 92%, 62% e 78% das plantas coletadas no Cear?, Piau? e Maranh?o, respectivamente. Os demais algodoeiros coletados pertencem a esp?cie G. barbadense. Os algodoeiros moc?s foram encontrados in situ na forma de planta de fundo de quintal, beira de estrada, feral, lavoura, variedade local. Em grande parte eram do tipo fundo de quintal (45,2%), sendo maioria no Piau? e Maranh?o. No Cear? predominou o tipo lavoura, no Rio Grande do Norte tipo feral e na Para?ba variedades locais. A manuten??o das plantas do tipo moc? est? ligada, principalmente, ao uso dom?stico fitoter?pico (20,9%) e confec??o de pavios para candeeiro (29,7%). Poucos moradores na Para?ba, Rio Grande do Norte, Piau? e nenhum no Maranh?o apresentaram o h?bito de realizar a colheita, armazenamento e beneficiamento das sementes, entretanto no Cear? 40,5% dos propriet?rios afirmaram realizar a colheita e comercializar a fibra. Verificou-se que a manuten??o da esp?cie ? dependente dos fr?geis h?bitos culturais da popula??o local, portanto a manuten??o in situ n?o ? um meio adequado ? conserva??o dos recursos gen?ticos. Os esfor?os devem ser direcionados para a continuidade das coletas, caracteriza??o e manuten??o ex situ