A review of intraspecific genetic diversity on wild plants in Korea estimated from varying nuclear DNA markers

Given the significant impact of molecular markers on the genetic diversity assessment, understanding genetic diversity pattern across diverse marker types in a comparative manner is of great importance. In Korea, within the last 10 years population genetics studies of wild plants have drawn much attention as varying DNA markers have developed. To investigate the pattern of among-population and within-population level genetic diversity of wild plants in Korea, we reviewed the extent of population genetic parameters across four DNA markers (RAPD, AFLP, ISSR, SSR). We compiled 73 data sets from research papers published between 2010 and 2019. ISSR markers were the most frequently used in population genetics studies conducted on Korean wild plants. Overall, genetic diversity patterns greatly varied across the different marker types. On average, endangered species exhibited low within-population genetic variation and high among-population genetic diversity. Species with wide geographic distribution showed greater within-population diversity values than the ones residing in a restricted area except for AFLP data. Populations were genetically less differentiated in long distance dispersal species with wide geographic ranges. Our review indicates that the studies on the genetic diversity of wild plants may be improved by expanding the scope and increasing the sample sizes.