Molecular markers and their role in mulberry improvement

Mulberry (genes Morus) a perennial tree or shrub in an economically important plant used for sericulture and is the sole food plant for the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori. Mulberry is widely distributed in Asia, Europe, North and South America and it is cultivated extensively in East, central and South Asia for silk production. Genetic characterization of germplasm resources is necessary for their effective management and efficient utilization, especially for species like mulberry in which the available germplsm exhibits rich phenotypic diversity with almost no information about its genetic base. Molecular markers are useful complements to morphological and phenological characters because they are plentiful, independent of tissue or environmental effects and allow accession identification in the early stages of development. Such techniques reveal polymorphisms at the DNA level and are very powerful tool for characterization and genetic diversity estimation. Many molecular markers such as RAPD, SSR, AFLP and SRAP have been successfully used in identification and genetic diversity analysis in mulberry.