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The list of Colombian Passifloraceae was revised, using 3.930 records from literature, herbaria, and field observations. It includes 167 species, 165 of them native, which is equivalent to 27% of the family. Our list includes more details on species distribution and presents 26 species new to Colombia. Passiflora is the most important genus, with 162 species, whose center of diversity is in the Ecuadorian and Colombian Andes. Inside Colombia, the highest diversity is concentrated in the Andean region, which houses 81% of the species, particularly in the departments of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cundinamarca, Quindío, Risaralda, and Caldas. The highest number of species is found at between 1000 and 2000 m above sea level and the most common thrive in disturbed habitats, such as roadsides, cultivated plots, and secondary forests. Most of the 58 endemic species are found at between 1500 to 2500 in and belong mainly to subgenera Tacsonia and Decaloba. Forty-two species produce an edible fruit, and nine are commercially cultivated. Among the species reported, 70% are threatened to some degree and three are considered extinct. Colombia may still house many unknown species in poorly explored departments, but more information about Passiflora diversity and distribution is needed to develop its economic potential. The conservation of this threatened species along with its habitat is essential and urgent. Because of the species' multiple ecological interactions with many organisms, both aspects can be combined using Passifloraceae as an indicator of biodiversity in the Andean region.

Genetic relations between the main cultivated passion fruits, as well as ,two of their wild relatives, were studied with AFLP markers. The 28-accession sample included six species from subgenus Passiflora (P. edulis, P. alata, P. quadrangularis, P. ligularis, P. tiliifolia, P. maliformis) and five from subgenus Tacsonia (P. tripartita, P. tarminiana, P. cumbalensis, P. mixta, P. antioquiensis). Three pairs of primers were selected on the basis of number and quality of polymorphic fragments. A total of 314 informative fragments were identified in the 80-500 bp range, 58% of them showing polymorphism. The neighbor joining cluster analysis grouped the accessions by species, and botanical varieties (P. tripartita) or forms (P. edulis). P. edulis displayed considerable variation, with a clear separation between its purple and yellow forms. The separation between the two subgenera was poor. At the intermediate series level, P. alata and P. quadrangularis were logically associated in a Quadrangulares branch, as well as P. ligularis and P. tiliifoliae in a Tiliifoliae branch. However, P. maliformis appeared independent from the latter. AFLP markers confirmed their interesting potential to study genetic diversity at the intraspecific level and among closely related species.

Microsatellite-containing sequences were isolated from an enriched genomic library of Carica papaya L. A total of 507 clones were evaluated with radioactive probes containing the motifs (GA)15 and (GT)15 and 147 positive clones were isolated and sequenced. The OLIGO 4.06 software was used to define 76 primer pairs. These primers were evaluated on three genotypes of C papaya and seven species of the genus Vasconcellea. Overall, 69 primer pairs worked in C papaya and 33 in Vasconcellea. The 35 pairs producing the best banding profiles were characterized on a sample of 29 individuals of C. papaya from the Caribbean region and 11 individuals of Vasconcellea from the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Twenty-six primer pairs gave polymorphism, of which 24 within C. papaya and only four within the seven Vasconcellea species, confirming the divergence between both genera. The number of alleles was 99, with a mean of 4 and an expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.56 per locus in C papaya. and 18, i.e. 4.5 per locus, in Vasconcellea, in the homozygous state. Microsatellite markers revealed more polymorphism in papaya than AFLP or RAPD.

Afin détudier la variabilité génétique du germoplasme antillais et venezuelien de Carica papaya L., 46 accesions ont caracterisées avec des marquerus phénotypiques et isoenzymatiques. Chez 60% des accessions, les plantes femelles ont été prédominantes en comparaison avec les autres types sexuels. En Dans 97% des cass, au moins, un type sexuel manque. Pour cette raison, l'analyse phénotypique a ete subdivisée en quatre sous-échantillons, pour mieux exploiter les descripteus et accessions. Les descripteurs quantitatif et qualitatif ont été soumis à une analyse de la variance, pour déterminer la possible influence du type sexuel sur les caractéristiques phénotypiques, et à l'analyse en composantes principales pour étudier les relations entre variables. Sept des dix descripteurs végétatifs quantitatifs sont influences par le type sexuel. La première composante de la variation se rapporte à la taille des fruits, la seconde à la taille de la plante et la troisième la taille de la feuille. Pour la caractérisation isoenzymatique dix systèmes ont été utilisés mais seulement le Deshydrogénase alcoolique de (Adh), Peroxydases (Prx), la Phosphoglucomutases (Pgm), Isomérase Phosphoglucose (Pgi) et la Dismutase Superoxydase (Sod) ont présenté un polymorphisme. Aucune influence du type sexuel a été trouvée. Les descripteurs phénotypiques et isoenzymatiques ont été soumis à l'analyse de classification automatique (neighbor joining). Les descripteurs quantitatifs et qualitatifs donnent lieu à un leger groupement des accessions de Barbade et du Venezuela. Pour les descripteurs isoenzymatiques, pour lesquels les accesions ont ete groupées par pays d'origine, un groupement Nord/Sud apparai, avec les accessions de Guadeloupe, Martinique et Grenade d'aun côté et celle de Guadeloupe, Barbade, Trinidad et Venezuela de l'autre côté. En térmes généraux, les accessions de Guadeloupe, Venezuela et Barbade présentent la plus large variabilité pour les deux types de marqueurs.