Genetic Species Identification Using ycf1b, rbcL, and trnH-psbA in the Genus Pinus as a Complementary Method for Anatomical Wood Species Identification

Abstract

This study proposes the use of genetic analysis as a complementary method for species identification in the genus Pinus, particularly in cases where anatomical identification is challenging. Pinus species were grouped based on anatomical similarities, and the efficacy of using ycf1b, which is the most variable for Pinus species identification, and rbcL, which is a suggested DNA barcode for land plants, was evaluated within each group. Sequences for each species were obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information database and were used to perform phylogenetic analysis. Among the species in Group 1 (P. echinata, P. elliottii, P. ponderosa, P. radiata, P. rigida, P. taeda, and P. virginiana), rbcL was only effective in identifying P. radiata and P. ponderosa, while ycf1b classified five species. An additional DNA barcode, trnH-psbA, was needed to identify P. radiata and P. taeda. In Group 2 (P. densiflora, P. sylvestris, and P. thunbergii), most species were identified using both rbcL and ycf1b, with the exception of possible hybrids of P. densiflora and P. sylvestris. In Group 3 (P. koraiensis and P. strobus), two species were identified using rbcL and ycf1b. Combining genetic species identification with anatomical identification can accurately identify species of the genus Pinus.

Wasabi Gone Wild? Origin and Characterization of the Complete Plastomes of Ulleung Island Wasabi (Eutrema japonicum; Brassicaceae) and Other Cultivars in Korea

“…Divergence hotspots in plastomes are not highly conserved in congeneric species across members of the family Brassicaceae. However, at least for genic regions, ycf1 shows high sequence divergence, which has value for the phylogenetic analysis of Eutrema and related genera, as well as other angiosperms (e.g., [40][41][42][43][44]). In addition to identifying divergence hotspot regions in the sliding window analysis (Figure 5), highly variable regions among cultivars-trnH-GUG/psbA (five sites), rpl32/trnL-UAG (three sites), clpP intron 1 (three sites), and trnK-UUU/rps16 (three sites)-can be effective chloroplast DNA markers for population genetic and phylogeographic studies of Eutrema.…”