Morphological-Molecular Descriptive Study of Berries Shami (Morus nigra L.) Tree in Al- Koum site (Al-Qunetira) - Syria.

Abstract

    This study was carried out in Al-Koum site (Al-Quneitra), during the (2017/2018) and (2018/2019) grown seasons. This study involved comparison of 28 morphological characteristics of 9 cultivated berries Shami phenotypes, in order to study morphological characteristics of these phenotypes.

Results showed a clear variation among the studied local berries Shami phenotypes (cultivated) regarding the morpho-agronomical characteristics. The average percent disagreement values (PDV) of the studied site was recorded to be 0.16 using Unweighted Pair Group Mean Arithmetic average (UPGMA). For molecular study, Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) technique has been used with 10 primers. Molecular study revealed genetic variations among the studied phenotypes with a mean PDV average of 0.60. In general, results showed no significant correlation between morphological and the molecular data (r=0.30). Also, results showed ISSR efficacy for genetic variation determination and discrimination among the studied phenotypes, thereby, possibility of using these phenotypes in berry genetic improvement programs.