Identification of Species Native to South Korea Using Molecular and Morphological Characteristics.

Recently, within the Fabaceae family, the genus has been recognized for its vital role in sustainable agriculture. species are economically important grain and forage crops. However, the presence of complex morphological characteristics makes identification and recognition of native species difficult. In this study, the possibility of using DNA barcoding regions (ITS2, , and ) to distinguish among 19 taxa (59 accessions) found in South Korea was evaluated. The sequence alignment analysis revealed considerable nucleotide diversity (π) between the loci, in which ITS2 showed the highest mean interspecific distance, whereas there was no intraspecific variability among the barcode regions in 12 of the 19 taxa. Phylogenetic analysis of combined barcoding regions revealed well-resolved phylogeny with the highest species level discrimination. Combinations of barcode loci were also used in classification at the subgenera and section levels. The results revealed that the combined barcoding regions can be used effectively to differentiate the following species: var. , , , , , , , , , and . However, it is difficult to differentiate the species of , var. , , f. , , , var. , , and with the tested barcode regions. These species come under sect. and are found to be closely related or species that have recently undergone speciation; thus, it has limitation to distinguish with recommended barcodes. Hence, to differentiate the unclassified species, 39 morphological characteristics were investigated, in which 16 useful characteristics were selected for efficient classification. Finally, the 16 selected morphological useful traits efficiently differentiated all the species. In conclusion, a combination of barcoding loci together with morphological characteristics of this study efficiently discriminated all the Korean species.