Morphological and Genetic Variations in Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) Accessions from Three Sites in Luzon, Philippines
The Department of Biology would like to invite everyone to the online thesis defense of ๐ ๐. ๐๐๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฎ ๐ฅ. ๐๐น๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฟ, ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ. ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ. on ๐ข๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ญ๐ฐ, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ (๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐) ๐ฎ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง online via Zoom.
Her thesis is entitled:
"๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐บ. (๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฒ) ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐"
Thesis Adviser:
Dr. Vivian A. Panes
Panelists:
Dr. Janlo M. Robil
Dr. Emmanuel D. Delocado
Dr. Mark Lloyd F. Dapar
Kindly email zmaini@ateneo.edu for the meeting link and details.
Abstract
"Moringa oleifera, locally known as malunggay, has many uses as alternative medicine, food source and raw material for cosmetics, textiles and construction. It has also been studied extensively, mostly to validate its effectivity as an alternative medicine for a variety of ailments. There are only a few studies which have focused on validating the identity of M. oleifera accessions internationally, and locally. This study introduces an integrative approach for species identification and phylogenetic analysis wherein morphological, ecological and other genetic data are utilized in combination with molecular data in the form of DNA barcodes. In this study, the identities of M. oleifera accessions from Benguet, Pangasinan and Quezon City were validated using the barcode markers matK, rbcL and ITS. Carica papaya from its sister taxa was used as an outgroup. Environmental parameters in the sampling area and the morphological characters of each of the plants sampled were measured. The morphologic characteristics of the samples significantly differed among the three sampling areas (p < 0.005). Genomic DNA from all the samples were successfully extracted using Plant DNAzol and Potassium Ethyl Xanthogenate mode of extraction, amplified using polymerase chain reaction and sequenced through Sanger sequencing. Sequence length for matK ranged from 842-865 bp, rbcL sequence length ranged from 472-634 bp and ITS sequence length ranged from 699-819 bp. NCBI BLAST queries using matK and rbcL sequences showed 99-100% similarity with M. oleifera sequences in the database, whereas ITS sequences showed similarity as low as 70.68%. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the accessions were related to each other even if they were collected from different areas in Luzon. However, the phylogenetic trees generated were supported with low bootstrap values. This study shows that plants of the same species with different morphological characteristics and growth environments still shows molecular and genetic similarities. It also provides another approach to the process of identification and validation, especially of extant plant species.
Keywords: Moringa oleifera, DNA barcoding, species identification, integrative taxonomy"