Discordance Between Geographical Distribution and Genetic Relationship Among Populations of Japanese Red Pine in Korea Revealed by Analysis of I-SSR Markers

Level and distribution of genetic diversity in 8 populations of Japanese red pine in Korea were estimated using I-SSR variants. A total of 80 I-SSR variants were observed in the analyzed 150 individuals, which revealed DNA fingerprints-like individual specific amplicon profiles for all of them. Relatively higher level of genetic diversity within populations was observed in 8 populations of Japanese red pine (mean of 0.450) than in other tree species. From the results of AMOVA, majority of genetic diversity was allocated within populations (93.42%) resulting in a moderate degree of population differentiation (Φ_ST= 0.066). The observed distribution pattern of I-SSR variants among 8 populations was coincided with the typical patterns for the long-lived woody species. Genetic relationships among the populations, reconstructed by UPGMA and Neighbor- Joining methods, revealed 2 genetic groups. The populations of Gangwon-Uljin and Chungnam-Taean turned out to be the most closely related despite a distant location between them. The overall genetic relationships among the 8 populations, reconstructed by both methods, were not coincided with geographic distances. The discrepancy between genetic relationships and geographical distribution among the populations suggests that the analyzed populations might have undergone random changes in genetic composition due to some kinds of disturbances. Results obtained in this study suggests that more careful approach should be made in preparing strategy for gene conservation of Japanese red pine in Korea. More information on countrywide molecular population genetic status of Japanese red pine will be helpful to prepare more reasonable strategy for gene conservation of the species in the country.