Botanical and genetic characterization of certain Bambusa species cultivated in Egypt.

Bambusa nana Roxb. and Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. are woody bamboos, cultivated in Egypt for ornamental and industrial purposes. They are members of Poaceae family which is known for its economic importance. Reviewing the available literature, nothing could be traced concerning either botanical or genetic characteristics of plants under study. The present work is a comparative study from the botanical and genetic standpoints aiming to provide valuable criteria for identification of and/or differentiation between these two related species. In this respect, the botanical features of the culms, leafy branches and leaves of both plants are described. Besides, the DNA was extracted from leaf samples of the plants and amplified using 10 decamer random primers to reveal RAPD fragments. A total of 133 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragments were identified. DNA profiling pointed to OPE-04 as a primer useful to indicate genetic similarity and to both OPB-07 and OPO-03 as primers helping in interspecies discrimination.