Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) Characterization of Neolamarckia Cadamba Genetic Resources

Abstract

Neolamarckia cadamba (Kadam) genetic resources were characterised Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) traits based on International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants12 guidelines. Twenty-five clones of kadam were characterised based on the morphological characters of leaf and bark with 12 descriptors. Among these 12 descriptors, 9 were qualitative traits viz., leaf shape, Leaf base shape, apex shape, leaf margin, leaf venation, base symmetry, Waxiness in upper side of leaf, bark colour and bark texture and 3 were quantitative characters viz., leaf length, leaf breath, leaf petiole length. The study exhibited significant variations among the genetic resources investigated for various DUS traits, which could act as reference traits for developing variety to protect the genetic resources through Intellectual Property Rights.