Genetic Phylogenetic Relationship of the Jeju Native Citrus 'Byungkyool' (Citrus platymamma Hort. ex Tanaka) using ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) Region of Nuclear Ribosomal DNA

The 12 cultivars of the Jeju native Citrus are considered to have originated from China. However, the origin of the cultivar ‘Byungkyool’ (Citrus platymamma Hort. ex Tanaka) is not clearly known. We performed PCR analysis by using three primer sets designed from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) to analyze the phylogenetic relationship between the traditional citrus cultivars and the Byungkyool cultivar. Sequence length of the nrDNA ITS1 region of JNCPCRI (Jeju Native Citrus platymamma Citrus Research Institute) cultivar was 247 bp, 8the ITS2 region was 228 bp and the total ITS region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) was 638 bp. Analysis of the genetic relationship based on the sequence analysis at the ITS region of the JNCPCRI cultivar revealed that the ITS1 region of the cultivar was genetically the same as that of the Byungkyool (JQ990189) cultivar, and the ITS2 region was genetically similar to the Binkyool (JQ990180), Hongkyool (JQ990178), Dangyooja (JQ990179), and Pyunkyool (JQ990181) cultivars. Moreover, the total ITS region in the 5.8S rDNA region was genetically similar to the Hongkyool (JQ990178) cultivar. In addition, the total ITS region of the JNCPCRI cultivar was the most closely related to the Cheongkyool (JQ990183) cultivar and has been reported to originate from the Binkyool (JQ990180) and Pyunkyool (JQ990181) cultivars. Although the JNCPCRI cultivar was morphologically the same as the Byungkyool (JQ990189) cultivar, the ITS region showed genetic heterogeneity. Taken together, we conclude that the genetic variation in the ITS region of JNCPCRI cultivar suggests that it was propagated through fertilization with the surrounding citrus cultivars.