Morphological and biochemical characteristics of wild hevea specie

Abstract

Hevea brasiliensis or commonly known as rubber tree is the most common rubber species planted nationwide. Wild rubber species such as H. benthamiana, H. camargoana, H. guianensis, H. nitida, H. pauciflora, H. rigidifolia and H. spruceana are not been explored as commercial planting materials. There was an indication that showed the declining in genetic advance of rubber planting materials derived from H. brasiliensis. This was due to narrow genetic base and inbreeding depression. The objectives of this research were to determine the morphological and biochemical characteristics, rootstock-scion compatibility and latex yield in eight different wild Hevea species. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of wild Hevea species were analyzed with various methods including visual observation, light microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) and spectrophotometry. Rootstock-scion compatibility and latex yield were analyzed with bud-grafting method and fresh latex collection.