Nialoe Tanaka, 1958 is a subgenus of the ground beetle genus Pterostichus (Coleoptera: Carabidae), endemic to East Asia. In a wide sense of Nialoe, it consists of more than 200 species, which has reduced hindwing and possibly diversified by geographical isolation due to poor dispersal ability. To understand this vast group, phylogenetic studies have been conducted, showing that Nialoe s. lat. comprises of five subgenera: Nialoe s. str., Sphodroferonia, Koreonialoe, and two unnamed subgenera. However, there is little knowledge regarding their origin and dispersal. In this study, we examine phylogenetic relationships among the five subgenera of Nialoe s. lat. based on 28S rRNA, wingless, COI, and 16S rRNA. The molecular clock and S-DIVA analyses are devised to investigate the biogeographical history of the group in East Asia. This study may give insight into the biogeographical dispersal and diversification of East Asian carabids.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis was conducted to evaluate the taxonomic relationships of genus Arisaema L. distributed in Korea and the molecular phylogenetic characteristics of three authentic Arisaema species for the herbal medicine Arisaematis Rhizoma (the rhizomes of A. amurense, A. heterophyllum, and A. erubescens). The sequences of three DNA barcodes (rDNA-ITS, matK, and rbcL) were analyzed using 50 samples of nine taxa consisted of eight Korean and one Chinese Arisaema with one outgroup (Dracunculus vulgaris). Both individual and combined phylogenetic analyses of three DNA barcode sequences revealed that the treated nine taxa are independently classified into six distinct clades (Clade I, A. amurense f. amurense and A. amurense f. serratum; Clade II, A. serratum and A. takesimense; Clade III, A. ringens; Clade IV, A. erubescens; Clade V, A. heterophyllum; Clade VI, A. thunbergii subsp. thunbergii and A. thunbergii subsp. geomundoense). These six clades were reasonably divided into three individual sections, Pedatisecta, Sinarisaema, and Tortuosa. Futhermore, the results of comparative DNA barcode sequences analyses provided a significant information for the taxonomic reconsideration of Arisaema L. at the specific and intraspecific level. However, we could not confirm the taxonomic characteristics or identity among the three authentic medicinal species through the molecular phylogenetic analyses of genus Arisaema L. for Arisaematis Rhizoma.