Quantitative and Qualitative Genetic Studies of Some Acacia Species Grown in Egypt

The objective of the current work is to study the genetic differentiation between Acacia species growing in Egypt as plant genetic resources based on morphological, biochemical, and molecular markers. The 20 replicates of Acacia tree collected from four localities from Egypt were A. tortilis ssp. raddiana and A. farnesiana (Siwa Oasis and Borg El-Arab City), A. stenophylla, A. sclerosperma (Marsa Matroh City), and A. saligna (Abis Station Farm, Alexandria). The results based on the previous markers indicated highly significant differences between Acacia species, confirming the hypothesis of the possibility of using morphological, biochemical, and molecular parameters in species identification. Qualitative characteristics results indicated some similarities and differences that are taxonomically important for comparing taxonomical grouping with morphological data for the genetic description of Acacia species. The activities of antioxidant enzymes have been studied intensively and the results provide strong similarities between the Acacia species (69%), between A. raddiana (Siwa and Borg Al-Arab) and A. saligna, followed by all Acacia species (50%). Finally, the molecular studies showed that a total of 563 amplification fragments, 190 fragments were monomorphic, and 373 fragments were polymorphic. The highest number of amplification fragments (21) was detected with OPB-20 primer, while OPA-20 showed seven amplification fragments; the average number was 13.09. The results indicated that Acacia species exhibit high genetic differentiation, helpful in the future for genetic improvement programs. The novelty of the current study is highlighting the importance of plant genetic resources in Egypt and using different techniques to measure the differentiation between these species.