Identification of the Plant Family Caryophyllaceae in Korea Using DNA Barcoding.

Caryophyllaceae is a large angiosperm family, with many species being utilized as ornamental or medicinal plants in Korea, in addition to several endangered species that are managed by the government. In this study, we used DNA barcoding for the accurate identification of Korean Caryophyllaceae. A total of 78 taxa (n = 215) were sequenced based on three chloroplast regions (rbcL, matK, and psbA-trnH) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacers (ITS). In the neighbor-joining tree, a higher accuracy of identification was generally observed when using ITS (>73%) rather than chloroplast regions (<62%). The highest resolution was found for rbcL + ITS (77.6%), although resolution varied according to the genus. Among the genera that included two and more species, five genera (Eremogone, Minuartia, Pseudostellaria, Sagina, and Stellaria) were successfully identified. However, the species of five other genera (Cerastium, Gypsophila, Dianthus, Silene, and Spergularia) showed relatively low resolutions (0-61.1%). In the cases of Cerastium, Dianthus, and Silene, ambiguous taxonomic relationships among unidentified species may have been a factor contributing to such low resolutions. However, in contrast to these results, Gypsophila and Spergularia have been identified well in previous studies. Our findings indicate the need of taxonomic reconsideration in Korea.

Complete chloroplast genome of Sphagnum subsecundum Nees from Korea.

We determined the complete chloroplast genome sequence of the peatmoss Sphagnum subsecundum Nees from Mt. Halla in Korea. The total size of the chloroplast genome was 140,136 bp, and it consisted of a large single-copy region (LSC) of 98,064 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 21,388 bp, and two copies of inverted repeat (IRa and IRb) regions of 10,342 bp each. The genome encoded a set of 130 genes, comprising 85 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. This species formed a monophyletic clade with S. orientale and S. lenese as the result of ML phylogenetic analysis based on whole gemone sequence of 15 species including one outgroup species.