Applicability of RAPD markers on silver-stained polyacrylamide gels to ascertain genetic diversity in Peripatus acacioi (Peripatidae; Onychophora).

RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) molecular markers can be utilized for analyzing genetic variability in populations for which only a few or no molecular markers are available. They were used in a study of an endangered species, Peripatus acacioi, found in the Tripuí Ecological Station, in Ouro Preto, MG, Brazil. The ecological station was specifically created to protect this velvet worm species, the first of this group found in Brazil.