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Ten quantitative morphological characters were studied in 56 Morus alba L. trees representing three natural populations from the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region. The altitude of collection sites ranged from 2815 to 3177 m above the sea level (asl). Coefficient of variation (CV) showed high phenotypic variation in M. alba. Linear regression analysis revealed that leaf and fruit size decreases with an increase in altitude. High CV was observed for leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, leaf area, inter-nodal distance, number of nodes, bud length, fruit length, fruit width and fruit weight. Similarly, a high phenotypic plasticity index was observed for bud length, leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, leaf area, inter-nodal distance, number of nodes, fruit length, fruit width and fruit weight. For every 100 m increase in altitude, leaf length, leaf width and leaf area decreased by 1 cm, 0.8 cm and 16.6 cm, respectively. Analysis of covariance showed a predominant altitudinal effect on the morphological characters in comparison to the population effect. A small change in the altitude caused significant change in the plant morphological characteristics. The present investigation represents to our knowledge the first study addressing phenotypic variation in mulberry along an altitudinal gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sequence-related amplified polymorphism markers were used to assess the genetic structure in three natural populations of Morus alba from trans-Himalaya. Multilocation sampling was conducted across 14 collection sites. The overall genetic diversity estimates were high: percentage polymorphic loci 89.66%, Nei's gene diversity 0.2286, and Shannon's information index 0.2175. At a regional level, partitioning of variability assessed using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), revealed 80% variation within and 20% among collection sites. Pattern appeared in STRUCTURE, BARRIER, and AMOVA, clearly demonstrating gene flow between the Indus and Suru populations and a geographic barrier between the Indus-Suru and Nubra populations, which effectively hinders gene flow. The results showed significant genetic differentiation, population structure, high to restricted gene flow, and high genetic diversity. The assumption that samples collected from the three valleys represent three different populations does not hold true. The fragmentation present in trans-Himalaya was more natural and less anthropogenic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) is an endangered orchid possessing high medicinal value. [•] NJ and Bayesian clustering analysis indicated that two clusters were gathered. [•] Habitat fragmentation from human pressure is the main threats for this species. [•] A proper conservation strategy is proposed for this endangered species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]