Morphological and Molecular Diversity among Casuarina and Allocasuarina Species

Morphological and genetic diversity among three species of Casuarina (C. equisetifolia, C. glauca and C. junghuhniana) and two species of Allocasuarina (A. huegeliana and A. littoralis) were studied with eighteen morphometric parameters and seven ISSR primers. The morphometric parameters that differentiated most species included plant height, branch length, internode length and teeth length and revealed a significant diversity among the species studied. ISSR-PCR analysis was also conducted to estimate the genetic relationship among and within the species. Seven ISSR primers were amplified in 50 individuals belonging to the five species. A total of 66 polymorphic bands amplified with the amplicon size ranging from 220 bp to 1140 bp. The dendrogram generated from ISSR and morphometric markers clustered C. equisetifolia, C. glauca and A. littoralis in to one group while C. junghuhniana and A. huegeliana grouped separately. The study revealed that the diversity estimation by conventional method using morphometric parameters and advanced technique utilizing molecular data can be used synergistically in diversity estimation studies for population/parent selections in breeding programs of tree species.