APS_October 2018

J ournal of the A merican P omological S ociety

262

1999; Haddarah et al., 2014). The genetic variability of the Lebanese carob popula- tions was explored by using RAPD mark- ers (Talhouk et al ., 2005). Results from this genetic study indicated that carob trees did not cluster based on geographic proximity, and revealed a significant difference between and within populations, suggesting that the remaining trees constitute a valuable germ- plasm that deserves to be investigated.  In this context, the present work aims to assess the phenotypic diversity of the ancient Lebanese carob germplasm by characterizing the remaining centennial carob trees growing in the country. Germplasm characterization consisted of analyzing the variation in mor- phological descriptors relevant to the tree, the leaf, the pod and the seed among 59 se- lected trees to determine if they are related with species geographical distribution in Lebanon. This work is the first contribution in Ceratonia siliqua in which morphological features are analyzed to characterize Leba-

nese’s genotypes based on their potentialities and to valorize ancient carob trees in further conservation actions and selection programs. The hypothesis was that morphological dif- ferences can be characterized, and that this analysis will provide a starting point for fu- ture molecular analysis for this important natural resource in the Mediterranean and the Near East regions. Materials and Methods Surveys and collected accessions  A set of 59 ancient carob trees representing most natural and domesticated Lebanese’s populations was collected during June - Oc- tober 2016 (Supplementary Table 1). These trees grew in family gardens, road edges, val- leys and abandoned lands and were described immediately at the site prior to material col- lection. Trees were located at 31 sites spread over four main geographical areas, the North, the South, Mount Lebanon, and Beirut dis- tricts (Fig. 1) at altitudes between 16 and 545

Figure 1. Distribution of the 59 centennial carob trees surveyed in 31 locations in Lebanon.

Figure 1. Distribution of the 59 centennial carob trees surveyed in 31 locations in Lebanon.