Genetic variation associated with Picea jezoensis populations of South Korea was investigated using chloroplast (cp), mitochondrial (mt) and nuclear DNA markers. In South Korea, P. jezoensis is distributed across a very restricted area, being found on the summits of three mountains: Mts. Jiri, Dokyu and Gyebang. Examination of five region restriction enzyme combinations for mtDNA and four for cpDNA revealed haplotypes endemic to South Korea. The Gyebang population, the most northerly and most isolated, was genetically distinct from the other populations. Nuclear microsatellite markers indicated, overall, a low level of genetic diversity (H (e) = 0.406) in South Korea; this could be attributed to genetic drift and/or founder effects associated with historical events. The Wilcoxon sign-rank test did not indicate a recent bottleneck in any of the populations irrespective of the model considered (infinite allele model, two-phased model of mutation, and stepwise mutation model). Microsatellite markers also demonstrated that the Gyebang population was distinct from the others. The results of this study could be used as the basis for conservation guidelines for the management of this species in South Korea.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract In this study, we developed 15 novel polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers by SSR-enriched genomic library construction from Codonopsis lanceolata.We obtained a total of 226 non-redundant contig sequences from the assembly process and designed primer sets. These markers were applied to 53 accessions representing the cultivated C. lanceolata in South Korea. Fifteen markers were sufficiently polymorphic, and were used to analyze the genetic relationships between the cultivated C. lanceolata. One hundred three alleles of the 15 SSR markers ranged from 3 to 19 alleles at each locus, with an average of 6.87. By cluster analysis, we detected clear genetic differences in most of the accessions, with genetic distance varying from 0.73 to 0.93. Phylogenic analysis indicated that the accessions that were collected from the same area were distributed evenly in the phylogenetic tree. These results indicate that there is no correlative genetic relationship between geographic areas. These markers will be useful in differentiating C. lanceolata genetic resources and in selecting suitable lines for a systemic breeding program.

In order to analyze the genotyping of shiitake

To reveal the genetic mechanisms behind drought tolerance, we attempted to identify the drought-responsive genes in Populus tremula var. davidiana (Dode) C.K. Schneid. and eight other species of Populus. Nine drought-responsive genes were assayed by single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping using TaqMan probe-based real-time PCR. A total of 346 SNPs were found from the 101 sequences of the nine genes. Among them, 57 primers were selected for SNP genotyping and haplotype determination. For the SNP genotyping, 56 assays were applicable to section Leuce Duby, 53 to section Aigeiros Duby, 50 to Populus maximowiczii Henry, and 52 to Populus simonii Carrière. The expectation maximization algorithm was implemented to determine haplotypes among species and sections. A total of 78 haploid types were estimated from nine drought-responsive gene loci, and the average number of haploid types per locus was 8.67. The analysis of genetic diversity revealed that P. tremula var. davidiana had substantial levels of genetic variation for the nine drought-responsive genes, which was higher than the eight other species. The means of observed number of alleles (NA) and heterozygosity (Ho) were 5.33 and 0.6609, respectively. Analysis of the genetic differentiation of P. tremula var. davidiana showed that 7.52% of genetic variation was among populations and the remaining was within a population.

The restoration of damaged or disrupted forests with genetically appropriate restoration planting material that can adapt to future environmental conditions will ensure the conservation of forest genetic resources. Abies koreana is endemic to the Republic of Korea, with declining populations under current environmental changes. In this study, we examined the genetic diversity of its largest population growing on Mt. Hallasan to determine the sampling size of planting material from the population that will ensure 95% coverage of alleles in the population. We evaluated the genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure of three subpopulations of A. koreana on Mt. Hallasan. A total of 456 samples were evaluated using 10 microsatellites. The observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity were 0.538 and 0.614 at the population level, respectively. The differences among the subpopulations accounted for 4% of the total variance. Intervals between individuals of the sample to be extracted were based on the two-target distance (5 and 10 m) inferred from the spatial genetic structure. Through random sampling methods considering the target distance, we showed that genetic diversity can be captured by obtaining at least 35 individuals in the population of A. koreana on Mt. Hallasan.