Hussam Baroudi*(1), Atia Arab(1), Wael Mtwaj(1), Eiad Danoura(1), Safaa Sabouh(1), and Manal Saleh(1)
(1). Researcher, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, Latakia, Syria.
(*Corresponding author: dr. Hussam Baroudi. Email: hussambaroudi@gmail.com).
Received: 11/5/2024 Accepted: 29/7/2024
Abstract:
The research was carried out during the years 2022 and 2023 on 60 cultivated genotypes of three species of mulberry used in silkworm feeding (M. bombycis, M. indica, M. alba), in Latakia Governorate (Bouqa, Al-Hanadi, WadiQandil site) with the aim of characterizing these types. By relying on the morphological and chemical characteristics of the leaves, establishing their own taxonomic keys, and studying the genetic variations among them. Data on the leaves were collected in tables and used to calculate the degree of variation between the types, and a genetic dendrogram was created between them. The results showed clear differences between all the studied genotypes, whether belonging to the same geographical location or to the three locations. The results of the cluster analysis, based on the morphological and chemical specifications studied, showed that the studied types were distributed into two independent groups. The first group included the white and Japanese types of mulberries with a variance rate of 70%. It was observed that the white mulberry types were clustered within one group with a variance rate of 12%. The second group included the mulberry types of the Japanese species from Wadi Qandil with a variance of 20%, while under the third group it included the Japanese species from the Buqa site with a variance of 18%. As for all Indian type types, they were distributed in one group with a variation rate of 30%. The results obtained also demonstrate the importance of the morphological and chemical characteristics of the leaves in studying the genetic diversity among mulberry types designated for silkworm breeding and in creating a special database for them, to benefit from later in the processes of genetic improvement of mulberries.
Keywords: Morus indica L., Morus bombycis L., Morus L., Genetic diversity, characterization.
Full paper in Arabic: PDF