The taxonomic status of Angelica purpuraefolia and its allies in Korea: Inferences based on ITS molecular phylogenetic analyses

Abstract

The taxonomy of the umbelliferous species Angelica amurensis and its allies was reviewed on the basis of molecular phylogenies derived from sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. Strict consensus of six minimal length 119-step trees derived from equally weighted maximum parsimony analysis of combined nuclear rDNA ITS1 and ITS2 sequences from 29 accessions of Angelica and outgroups indicated that Angelica purpuraefolia, known to be endemic to Korea, is the same species as A. amurensis. Comparisons of sequence pairs across both spacer regions revealed identity or 1-2 bp differences between A. purpuraefolia and A. amurensis. These results indicated that the two taxa are not distinguished taxonomically. Also, nuclear rDNA ITS regions are discussed as potential barcoding loci for identifying Korean Angelica.