TY - JOUR AU - BERTSOUKLIS, Konstantinos Fotios AU - PAPAFOTIOU, Maria PY - 2016/12/14 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Morphometric and Molecular Analysis of the Three Arbutus Species of Greece JF - Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca JA - Not Bot Horti Agrobo VL - 44 IS - 2 SE - Research Articles DO - 10.15835/nbha44210572 UR - https://www.notulaebotanicae.ro/index.php/nbha/article/view/10572 SP - 423-430 AB - <p><em>Arbutus andrachne, Arbutus unedo</em> and <em>Arbutus </em>×<em> andrachnoides </em>found in the Greek macchia are promising species for reforestations, ornamental use, as well as for medicinal use and the food industry. Μorphological traits and molecular markers (RAPD) were used to identify and distinguish these <em>Arbutus</em> species to facilitate their exploitation. Since there are no descriptors established for <em>Arbutus</em> spp., 23 qualitative morphological characteristics of crown, foliage, bark, flowering, fruiting, and four quantitative morphological characteristics of leaf and fruit were selected and used to define differences and similarities between sampled individuals of <em>A. andrachne, A. unedo </em>and individuals with intermediate characteristics sampled as <em>A</em>. × <em>andrachnoides</em>. Twenty eight individuals representative of three <em>Arbutus</em> taxa were sampled in two typical macchia forest areas of the prefecture of Attica, Greece. Cluster analysis based on morphological characteristics separated the individuals in three distinct groups, and this was confirmed by molecular analysis. Τhe intermediate form was indicated as<em> A</em>. × <em>andrachnoides</em>, a natural hybrid of <em>A. andrachne </em>and <em>A. unedo.</em> Fifteen 10-mer oligonucleotide arbitrary primers used to amplify genomic DNA generated 166 reproducible polymorphic fragments, which revealed that <em>A. </em>×<em> andrachnoides</em> has higher degree of genetic similarity with <em>A. andrachne </em>than <em>A. unedo</em>. The applied morphometric characteristics are suggested as a basis to develop a complete list of discriminating descriptors for <em>Arbutus</em> genus.<strong><em></em></strong></p> ER -