Exploration, Characterization and Phylogenetic Studies in Wild Mangifera indica Relatives

Exploratory surveys were carried out in the Andamans and Nicobar group of islands during 2006 and 2014 to locate wild species viz. Mangifera andamanica King, Mangifera camptosperma Pierre and Mangifera griffithii Hook. Not much variation was observed for fruit shape and size for the species Mangifera andamanica, which was endemic to this region. The species M. griffithii has been reported to be only in Mt. Harriet. However, another plant of M. griffithii in the Shoalbay region was found during the second survey. The foliage & fruit characteristics of the two specimens were similar, with a slight difference in the morphological features, which could be attributed to their origin from seeds. The DNA finger printing carried out showed minor changes in the species. The phylogenetic relationships amongst five Mangifera species viz. M. indica, M. griffithii, M. camptosperma, M. odorata and M. andamanica were analyzed by employing chloroplast markers viz., petB-petD intergenic spacer, rps16 gene, trnL-trnF intergenic spacer and nuclear marker—External Transcribed Spacer (ETS). The nuclear markers and chloroplast markers based on phylogenetic analysis showed that the common mango M. indica L. was closely related to M. griffithii and M. camptosperma, which belonged to subgenus Mangifera. However, M. odorata that belonged to subgenus Limus was grouped separately along with M. andamanica. The above results are in congruent with the accepted classification of genus Mangifera reported by Kostermans and Bompard with the exception of M. andamanica, which has been earlier classified under subgenus Mangifera. Results clearly indicated that classification of M. andamanica under subgenus needed to be reconsidered.