Genetic analysis of Morus alba through RAPD and ISSR markers

Information on the genetic identity and interrelationships of different Morus spp. genotypes is essential for their proper conservation and utilization. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken with genetically more reliable DNA markers to study the genetic relationship among eleven selected genotypes of mulberry collected from Japan, India and Italy. Using ten RAPD and ten ISSR primers, 60.75% and 74.13 % of DNA polymorphism could be detected among these genotypes. The genetic similarity among the genotypes varied from 0.73 to 0.89 when pooled data from ISSR and RAPD were used for UPGMA analysis. The phenogram obtained from the whole data set by using UPGMA, grouped all the genotypes into two distinct clusters. In one cluster all the genotypes from India and China were grouped while the other group comprised of the Japanese, Italian and the single genotype from Philippines. Though, the distinct grouping of Japanese genotypes with the Indian ones offers a possibility of utilising them in genetic improvement of M. alba genotypes of India.