The genetic relationships among five genera, seven species of Theaceae were examined through a random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis and internal transcribed spacer (ITS). In RAPD analysis, five of 15 arbitrary primers showed polymorphic bands, which were able to classify different genera and species of Theaceae. The genetic variations of Theaceae were from 0.031 to 0.484. In ITS analysis, the ITS sequences were analyzed using BLAST and showed high identities with sequences of Theaceae, seven species published in NCBI GenBank database, which ranged from 98 to 100%. Sequence alignment of seven species showed 34.9% identities for ITS 1 region and 43.7% for ITS 2 region. Pairwise sequence divergences among seven species ranged from 0 to 0.330%. In phylogenetic tree, they were divided into three groups. In conclusion, the molecular data generated in the present investigation will help to understand the genetic relationships of Theaceae and also might be useful for further studies in intra-species, inter-species, and molecular evolution researches.

This work was performed to confirm the molecular discrimination through the nrITS1 sequences among 3 taxa of Scirpus L. sensu lato (s.l.) species. S. planiculmis represented only 2 base sequence variations with S. maritimus in spite that they showed different morphological features. The nucleotide sequences of the ITS1 region from S. planiculmis were shown to have 99.1% homology with S. maritimus and 60.4% homology with S. triqueter. Although the morphology of S. planiculmis is similar with S. triqueter, molecular basis of the size and sequences on ITS1 region were shown to have distinctive differences. For divergency investigation on same sites and metapopulation, sequencing was conducted on ITS1 region with partial 5.8S and 18S regions. All plants of each species collected at the same site had identical band size pattern and sequences. Intraspecific molecular divergency was not identified in spite that these species live in different wetland sites. The ITS1 sequences described here provided a powerful genetic tool for phylogenetic studies which was difficult by morphological identification as high rate of morphological plasticity

The bumblebee, Bombus ignitus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is a valuable natural resource that is one of the most notably utilized for greenhouse pollination in Korea. In order to understand the nature of genetic relationships, gene flow, and population structure of the species we sequenced a partial COI gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) corresponding to “animal barcode” region and the complete internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) collected from Korean localities. Although the 658-bp long mtDNA sequence provided only six haplotypes with the maximum sequence divergence of 0.61% (4 bp), the ITS sequences provided 84 sequence types with the maximum sequence divergence of 1.02% (21 sites), confirming better applicability of the ITS sequences to the study of intraspecific variation. The complete ITS2 sequences of B. ignitus were shown to be longest among known insects, ranging in size from 2,034 bp ~ 2,052 bp, harboring two duplicated repeats. Overall, a very high per generation migration ratio, a very low level of genetic fixation, and no discernable hierarchical population/ population group were noted to exist among populations of B. ignitus on the basis of both molecules, thus suggesting that the B. ignitus populations on the Korean peninsula are panmictic, which is consistent with our understanding of the dispersal capability of the species

국내에서 재배하여 생산되고 있는 상황버섯의 일종인 PMO-P4균주에 대한 ITS 영역의 염기서열 분석을 실시하였으며 목질 진흙버섯으로 잘 알려져 있는 P. linteus와 함께 RFLP분석을 통하여 상호 비교한 결과 PMO-P4균주는 P. baumii로 판명되었다. 이 결과를 토대로 이미 보고 되어 있는 Phellinus속 균주들과의 종간 ITS 영역의 상동성을 비교한 결과 48.6%-72.2%였으며 본 연구에서 비교한 종들 가운데서는 P. linteus와 상동성이 가장 높았으며 P. gilvus와 상동성이 가장 낮았다.

The 12 cultivars of the Jeju native Citrus are considered to have originated from China. However, the origin of the cultivar ‘Byungkyool’ (Citrus platymamma Hort. ex Tanaka) is not clearly known. We performed PCR analysis by using three primer sets designed from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) to analyze the phylogenetic relationship between the traditional citrus cultivars and the Byungkyool cultivar. Sequence length of the nrDNA ITS1 region of JNCPCRI (Jeju Native Citrus platymamma Citrus Research Institute) cultivar was 247 bp, 8the ITS2 region was 228 bp and the total ITS region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) was 638 bp. Analysis of the genetic relationship based on the sequence analysis at the ITS region of the JNCPCRI cultivar revealed that the ITS1 region of the cultivar was genetically the same as that of the Byungkyool (JQ990189) cultivar, and the ITS2 region was genetically similar to the Binkyool (JQ990180), Hongkyool (JQ990178), Dangyooja (JQ990179), and Pyunkyool (JQ990181) cultivars. Moreover, the total ITS region in the 5.8S rDNA region was genetically similar to the Hongkyool (JQ990178) cultivar. In addition, the total ITS region of the JNCPCRI cultivar was the most closely related to the Cheongkyool (JQ990183) cultivar and has been reported to originate from the Binkyool (JQ990180) and Pyunkyool (JQ990181) cultivars. Although the JNCPCRI cultivar was morphologically the same as the Byungkyool (JQ990189) cultivar, the ITS region showed genetic heterogeneity. Taken together, we conclude that the genetic variation in the ITS region of JNCPCRI cultivar suggests that it was propagated through fertilization with the surrounding citrus cultivars.

Background : Plants belonging to 5 species of the genus Eleutherococcus are currently distributed in the Korean peninsula. The traditional medicine ‘Ogapi’, derived from Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus and other related species, and ‘Gasiogapi’, derived from Eleutherococcus senticosus, are frequently mixed up and marketed. Therefore, accurated identification of their origins in urgently required. Methods and Results : Candidate genes from nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) of Eleutherococcus plants were analyzed. Whereas the nrDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were useful in elucidating the phylogenetic relationships among the plants, the cpDNA regions were not as effective. Therefore, a combined analysis with nrDNA-ITS was performed. Various combinations of nrDNA and matK were effective for discriminating among the plants. However, the matK and rpoC1 combination was ineffective for discriminating among some species. Based on these results, it was found that OG1, OG4, OG5, OG7, GS1, GS2, and GS3 were derived from E. sessiliflorus. In particular, it was confirmed that GS1, GS2, and GS3 were not derived from E. senticosus. However, more samples need to be analyzed because identification of the origins of OG2, OG3, OG6 and GS4 was not possible. Conclusion : The ITS2, ITS5a, and matK combination was the most effective in identifying the phylogenetic relationship among Eleutherococcus plants and traditional medicines based on Eleutherococcus.

We performed phylogenetic analyses of a total of 21 acessions covering 5 species in the Korean Trigonotis and one outgroup species using nuclear ribosomal ITS and chloroplast rbcL, matK, ndhF sequences. Outgroup were chosen from the closely related genus Lithospermum zollingeri. Both parsimony and Bayesian Inference methods were used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the group. The evidence collected indicated that phylogenetic relationships among Korean Trigonotis species are unresolved based on nuclear marker (ITS), as the same as based on separated chloroplast sequences. While the phylogenetic relationships of Korean Trigonotis species almost clearly were resolved in combined chloroplast sequences. Thus, the members of Trigonotis coreana can be distinguished to the members of Trigonotis peduncularis in combined cpDNA sequences and Trigonotis nakaii was treated as a synonymed to Trigonotis radicans var. sericea. In addition, the MP and BI analysis showed Trigonotis icumae as sister of the remained Korean Trigonotis species based on combined molecular markers (BI: PP = 1).

한국, 중국, 러시아에서 자생하고 있는 가시오갈피에 대한 유전적 유연관계를 파악하기 위해 ITS (internal transcribed spacer)의 염기서열을 분석하였다. Universal primer를 사용하여 PCR로 증폭시킨 후 염기서열을 결정한 결과 ITS의 길이는 162 bp의 5.8S rRNA 유전자를 포함하여 한국산과 중국산은 608 bp 그리고 러시아산은 611 bp로 나타났다. ITS영역의 G+C 함량은 한국산과 중국산이 60.20%이고 러시아산이 60.06%였다. 한국산과 중국산의 ITS영역은 100% 동일하였으며, 러시아산은 한국산과 비교했을 때 3 bp의 염기삽입과 2 bp의 염기치환이 존재하여 99.2%의 상동성을 나타내었다. 따라서 한국산 가시오갈피는 러시아산보다 중국산과 유전적 유연관계가 더 가까운 것으로 추정된다. 또한 동일 속내에서는 오갈피나무보다는 음나무와 ITS 염기서열이 유사한 것으로 나타났다.