Biodiversity, Geographical Distribution, Utilization and Conservation of Wild Mulberry Morus serrata Roxb.

Exploitation of wild relatives of crop plants to a large extent depends on the efficient use of germplasm resources available in natural habitat and the centre of diversity. The mulberry, sole food for silkworm is cultivated for the production and development of silkworm industry. Four species of mulberry viz., M. indica L., M. alba L., M. laevigata Wall., and M. serrata Roxb., are reported in India. Among these species, M. serrata is endemic to North Western Himalayan belt and growing in the higher altitude ranging from 560 ? 2200m above mean sea level. As a part of survey and exploration, 54 samples of M. serrata were collected from three states i.e., Uttaranchal (45), Himachal Pradesh (07) and Jammu and Kashmir (02). During collection, morphological variability, details of habitat viz., natural abode of plant and other related data were recorded. The collected materials were established in the Ex-situ field gene bank of Central Sericultural Germplasm Resources Centre (CSGRC) for further study. The morphological, anatomical, reproductive and growth traits showed variation among the different collections of M. serrata. This paper deals with biodiversity, geographical distribution, utilization and conservation of M. serrata for posterity.
 
REFERENCES
Agaev, Yu M. (1978) A study of chromosome sets in diploid and polyploid forms of mulberry. Tsitologiya (Moscow) 20, 759– 763
Brandis, D. (1906) Indian Trees. pp. 612– 613.  London.
Chaudhuri, H. and Barrow, J. R. (1975) Identification of cotton haploids by stomatal chloroplasts technique. Crop Sci. 15, 760- 763
Chauhan, N. S. and Thakur S. (1995) Conservation of plant genetic resources of Himachal Pradesh. Indian J. Forestry. 18, 226– 238.
 Dandin, S. B., Kumar, R., Ravindran, S. and Jolly, M. S. (1987) Crossability studies in mulberry. Indian J. Sericulture. 29, 1– 4.
Dandin, S. B., Basavaiah, Kumar, R. and Venkateshaiah, H. V. (1993) Phyto - geographical studies in the genus Morus L. I. Geographical distribution and natural variation of Morus serrata Roxb. Indian J. Pl. Genet. Resources. 7, 22– 226.
 Dhar Uppendra (2002) Conservation implications of plant endemism in high altitude Himalaya. Curr. Sci. 82, 141– 148.
Dwivedi, S. K., Singh Ranjit and Ahmad, Z. (2005) Studies on Physio– Chemical evaluation of fruits of Morus spp. Growing in cold Arid zone of India. In: Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Sericultural Commission held at Bangalore, India, 15– 18, December, 2005. pp. 26 – 29.
Hooker, J. D. (1885) Flora of British India. V: 491– 498. (Reprinted) Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, India.
Hussain, S.W. and Williams (1997) Evidence of functional unreduced gametes in Trifolium repens L. Euphytica. 97: 21 – 24.
Metcalf, C.R. and Chalk, L. (1979) Anatomy of dicotyledons, Second Edition, Clrendron Press, Oxford.
Rau, M. A. (1967) The sacred Mulberry tree of Joshimath, U.P. Indian Forester. 93, 333– 335.
Roxburgh, W. (1832) Flora of India. Vol. 3, Sreerampore, India.
 Suryanarayana, N. (2002) Mulberry and its therapeutic values. Indian Silk, 41, 11- 13
 Tikader, A. (1999) Studies on reproductive biological characters in mulberry germplasm (Morus spp.). Bull. Ind. Acad. Seric. 3, 50 – 57.
Tikader, A. Rao, A. A. and Mukherjee, P. (1999a) Stomatal variation and its relation with ploidy levels in mulberry (Morus spp.). Ind. J. Seric. 38, 160– 162.
Tikader, A., Rao, A.A. and Mukherjee, P. (1999b) Ex - situ conservation of the oldest mulberry tree. Indian Silk. 38, 17 – 18.
Tikader, A., Rao, A .A. and Mukherjee, P. (2000) Pollen morphology studies in mulberry (Morus spp.). Indian J. Sericulture. 39, 160– 162.
Tikader, A. (2001) Genetic divergence analysis in mulberry germplasm (Morus spp.). Indian J. Forestry. 24, 328– 331.
Tikader, A. and Dandin, S. B. (2001) Breeding behaviour of some wild mulberry. Indian Silk. 40, 9– 10.
Tikader, A. and Rao, A.A. (2001) Morpho – anatomical and pollen studies in mulberry Germplasm. Sericologia. 41, 69– 76.
Tikader, A., Rao, A. A. and Thangavelu, K (2002) Geographical distribution of mulberry species in India. Indian J. Plant Genetic Resources. 15, 262 - 266.
Tikader, A. and Thangavelu, K. (2003) Biodiversity of Morus species in North West India. In: Plant Diversity, Human Welfare and Conservation (Ed. Janarthanam, M. K. and D. Narasimhan) Goa University, India. pp. 110- 116.
Tikader, A. and Thangavelu, K. (2005) Pre - breeding strategy in mulberry and utilization of Morus spp. In: Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Sericultural Commission held at Bangalore, India, 15– 18, December, 2005. pp. 10- 17.
 Tikader, A. and Dandin, S. B. (2005) Evaluation of Morus serrata Roxb. mulberry germplasm in Ex- situ field gene bank. Indian J. Sericulture. 44, 165 – 168.
Vijayan, K., Tikader, A. Chakroborti, S.P. and Roy, B.N. (1997) Correlation studies in mulberry (Morus spp.). Indian J. Genet. 57, 455– 460.
Vijayan, K., Kar, P .K., Tikader, A., Srivastava, P. P., Awasthi, A. K., Thangavelu, K. and Saratchandra, B. (2004) Molecular evaluation of genetic variability in wild populations of mulberry (Morus serrata Roxb.). Plant Breeding. 123, 568– 572.
Watt, G. (1891) Dictionary of economic products in India. Vol.5, Periodical Experts, Delhi. pp. 279– 264.