Mulberry : From Botany to Phytochemistry

Mulberry (Morus spp.) is widely distributed tree taxon found almost in every continent across the globe. Habitat of this plant species is very much diversified, as it is found across all climatic zones ranging from tropical, sub-tropical, temperate, tundra, semi-arid to desert (arid) conditions. It flourishes on all types of landforms; mountains, valleys, plateaus, forests, grasslands, hills, plains and arid lands. Successful utilization of mulberry leaf for silkworm rearing and production of quality cocoons has been studied at length. Now, mulberry is being recognized as a multipurpose plant by most of the countries across the globe. As mulberry is eco-friendly in nature, the propagation of mulberry needs to be done at large scale to address the ecological issues like conversion of arid lands to cultivable lands, eco-restoration of degraded lands, bioremediation of polluted land sites, conservation of water and soil, cleaning the air pollution in urban areas, utilization of mulberry in producing renewable energy in the form of biodiesel. Similarly, there is the need to produce the identified and highly commercially valued pharmaceutical compounds of mulberry under laboratory conditions through in vitro culture based secondary metabolite production through enhanced expression under the stress conditions or in presence of elicitors.Lately protocols have been developed for genetic transformation of mulberry through agrobacterium mediated and particle bombardment mediated gene transfer techniques. Biotechnology based molecular breeding techniques could also be utilized in raising the improved lines through marker assisted selection, soma clonal variations, mutational breeding, somatic hybridization, genome editing and other genetic engineering approaches. Apart from sericulture; mulberry should also be utilized and exploited in other sectors across the globe for additional revenue generation, for livestock maintenance, for environmental safety and in promoting human health.These diversified aspects of mulberry coupled with its economic importance in revenue generation through sericulture, animal husbandry and industrial products has prompted us to prepare this book. It will present a comprehensive account of mulberry plant under 9 chapter headings: introduction, botanical features, ecological features, ecophysiological aspects, interactions and development, molecular aspects, propagation and production, economic importance, and global perspectives as well as future approaches. Preface 6 Acknowledgements 9 Contents 10 About the Authors 13 Chapter 1: Introduction 16 References 18 Chapter 2: Botany 20 2.1 Taxonomy and Morphology 20 2.1.1 Morus alba 22 2.1.2 Morus boninensis 23 2.1.3 Morus cathayana 24 2.1.4 Morus celtidifolia 25 2.1.5 Morus indica 25 2.1.6 Morus insignis 26 2.1.7 Morus koordersiana 28 2.1.8 Morus liboensis 28 2.1.9 Morus macroura 29 2.1.10 Morus mesozygia 29 2.1.11 Morus microphylla 30 2.1.12 Morus miyabeana 30 2.1.13 Morus mongolica 31 2.1.14 Morus nigra 31 2.1.15 Morus notabilis 32 2.1.16 Morus rubra 33 2.1.17 Morus serrata 34 2.1.18 Morus trilobata 35 2.1.19 Morus wittiorum 35 2.2 Distribution in the World 36 2.3 Fossil Records and Pollen Studies 39 References 41 Chapter 3: Ecological and Ecophysiological Aspects 44 3.1 Ecological Features 44 3.1.1 Habitat Preferences of Mulberry Trees 44 3.2 Ecophysiological Aspects 52 3.2.1 Potential Abiotic Stresses in Mulberry Trees 52 3.2.1.1 Drought Stress 52 3.2.1.2 Salinity Stress 55 3.2.1.3 Pollution Stress 57 3.2.1.4 Heavy Metal Stress 58 References 62 Chapter 4: Mulberry: Mycorrhizal Interactions and Development Related to Other Organisms 72 4.1 Mulberry: Mycorrhizal Interactions 72 4.2 Mulberry: Interactions with Pathogen and Pest Organisms 76 References 80 Chapter 5: Molecular Aspects of Mulberry 84 5.1 Introduction 84 5.2 Molecular Markers in Genetic Diversity/Phylogenetic Analysis 86 5.2.1 Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Markers 87 5.2.2 Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) Markers 90 5.2.3 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) Markers 92 5.2.4 Inter Simple Sequence Repeat Markers (ISSR) 94 5.2.5 Other Molecular Markers 97 5.3 Cytological Studies 98 5.4 Genome-Wide Analysis Studies 100 5.5 Improvement of Mulberry Through Biotechnological Approaches 101 5.6 Genome Sequencing Studies 102 5.6.1 Chloroplast Genome Sequencing 103 5.6.2 Whole-Genome Sequencing 104 5.7 Future Prospectives 105 References 106 Chapter 6: Propagation of Mulberry and Production 115 References 121 Chapter 7: Phytochemical Constituents, Pharmacological Activities, and Human Health 125 7.1 Phytochemical Constituents 125 7.1.1 Morus alba (Dadhwal and Banerjee 2023; Memete et al. 2022; Chan et al. 2016; Gryn-Rynko et al. 2016) 129 7.1.2 Morus nigra (Memete et al. 2022; Ozgen et al. 2009) 130 7.1.3 Morus rubra (Kostic et al. 2013; Ozgen et al. 2009) 131 7.1.4 Morus macroura (Hamdan et al. 2022; El-Hawary et al. 2021; Wang et al. 2018; Dai et al. 2004; Syah et al. 2000, 2004) 132 7.1.5 Morus mesozygia (Fozing et al. 2012; Kapche et al. 2009) 133 7.1.6 Morus mongolica (Kang et al. 2005; Sohn et al. 2004; Shi et al. 2001) 133 7.1.7 Morus notabilis (Wang et al. 2015; Hu et al. 2012) 133 7.1.8 Morus cathayana (Ni et al. 2009, 2010; Shen and Lin 2001; Fukai et al. 2005) 134 7.1.9 Morus wittiorum (Tan et al. 2009, 2010) 134 7.2 Pharmacological Activities and Human Health 134 7.2.1 Traditional Medicinal Use 134 7.2.2 Pharmacological Activities 136 7.2.2.1 Antidiabetic and Anti-obesite Activities 137 7.2.2.2 Anti-hypolipidemic and Antihyperlipidemic Activities 140 7.2.2.3 Anti-inflammatory Activity 140 7.2.2.4 Antimicrobial Activity 142 7.2.2.5 Antioxidant Activity 143 7.2.2.6 Antiviral and Antinociceptive Activities 144 7.2.2.7 Cancer-Related Activities 145 7.2.2.8 Cardiovascular Activity and Related Effects 146 7.2.2.9 Gastroprotective Activity 146 7.2.2.10 Nephroprotective and Hepatoprotective Activities 146 7.2.2.11 Neuroprotective Activity 147 7.2.2.12 Skin Problems and Anti-tyrosinase Activity 148 References 149 Chapter 8: Economic Importance of Mulberry 162 8.1 Traditional Uses 162 8.2 Industrial Uses 163 8.2.1 Industrial Resource: A Case Study from Kashmir 164 8.2.1.1 A Case Study on Industrial Exploitation of Mulberry Leaf for Pharmaceuticals 166 8.2.1.2 A Case Study on Industrial Exploitation of Edible Berries of Mulberry 167 8.2.1.3 A Case Study on Effective Cultivation of Mulberry for Additional Revenue 169 8.2.2 Industrial Resource: A Case Study from Turkiye 170 8.3 Importance of Mulberry Leaf in Silkworm Rearing 177 8.4 Other Uses 181 References 187 Chapter 9: Global Perspectives and Future Approaches 193 References 194 Index 195