Genetic variation and phylogeography of Neolitsea serica in Korea and Japan

초록

Neolitsea sericea (Lauraceae) is a warm-temperate evergreen broadleaved tree distributed in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Zhoushan archipelago of China. Recently, new northernmost limits of distribution has now been reported in Korea (Incheon) and Japan (Miyagi Pref.). To elucidate the past distribution and colonization routes of evergreen broadleaved tree in Korea we studied chloroplast DNA haplotypes of Neolitsea sericea. We investigated trnL-F and rps16 non-coding regions in chroloplast DNA for 150 individuals from 21 populations; 14 covered all growing regions in Korea and 7 from Chugoku region and Tsushima island in Japan. Five haplotypes were identified in this species and all of them were found in Japanese populations, but most of Korean population were composited with single haplotypes. In an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), a significant differentiation (56%, P < 0.001) was detected between Korea populations including Tsushima and Chugoku ones of Japan. DNA data suggest that Korean populations of the species were migrated from out of Korean Peninsula through land bridge and then isolated by sea after last glacial maximum.