Taxonomy and genetic diversity of Korean Suaeda

초록

The genus Suaeda is one of the most popular plants on salt marsh areas in Korean Peninsular. The entities that comprise taxa in Korea exhibit widely overlapping ranges in all morphological attributes. In this study the taxonomic delimitation and genetic diversity on Korean species of Suaeda were studied by gross morphology, ramdom amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) makers and ITS sequences of nrDNA. From the morphological and molecular data S. glauca of sect. Schanginia is the most distinctive species, compared with others of sect. Heterosperma. A newly recorded species from Korea of S. malacosperma, which has been treated as a varity of S. maritima, is clearly separated from the latter in having the stellate shape of fruits and molecular evidences. In RAPD analysis six decamer primers amplified a total of 65 scorable bands, of which 61 were polymorphic. S. japonica, S. maritima, and S. malacosperma, which have been hardly distinguished each other by external morphology, were readily recognized by its specific DNA bands. The characteristic RAPD markers were identified between local populations of S. japonica, but this feature was not revealed within population. The phylogenetic relationships among Korean species of Suaeda and its allied genera are discussed based on ITS sequences and the molecular data was compared with the morphological evidences.