RESUMO
The genus Cosmos is native of America and is constituted by 34 species; 28 of them are endemic of Mexico. The cosmos are used as a nematicide, antimalarial, and antioxidative agent. The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic diversity among 7 cosmos species based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequences repeats (ISSR) markers. With RAPD markers, the obtained polymorphism was 91.7 % and the genetic diversity was 0.33, whereas these values were 65.6%, and 0.22 from ISSR markers, respectively, indicating the presence of high genetic diversity among the Cosmos species that were analyzed. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean dendrograms that were obtained with both markers were notably similar, revealing 2 clusters and indicating a clear genetic differentiation among the Cosmos species that were assessed. The first cluster comprised the species Cosmos sulphureus, Cosmos pacificus, and Cosmos diversifolius, while the second cluster included the species Cosmos purpureus, Cosmos crithmifolius, Cosmos bipinnatus, and Cosmos parviflorus. Besides this, the Cosmos species were clustered according to their collection sites. The Mantel test corroborates the correlation between the genetic distance and the geographic altitude of each Cosmos species. The results suggest that it is necessary to preserve the Cosmos species in their natural habitat in addition to the germoplasm collection for ex situ conservation.
