Genetic Diversity in Korean Populations of Glycine soja (Fabaceae)

Glycine soja Sieb. et Zucc., a predominantly selfing annual, has been served as a reservoir of germplasm for soybean, G. max (L.) Merr., cultivar improvement. This study describes the levels and distribution of genetic variation within and among 22 Korean populations of G. soja using starch gel electrophoresis. The species maintains very similar levels of genetic variability within populations observed in most other annuals. At the population level, the mean percent of polymorphic loci (P) was 32.6%, mean number of allele per locus (A) was 1.32, and mean expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.112. In addition, total genetic diversity (HT) calculated only for polymorphic loci was 0.347. However, significant differences in allele frequencies among populations were found for all loci (P<0.001 in each case) and, on average, about 70% of the total variation in the species is common to all populations. Indirects estimate of the number of migrants per generation (Nm=0.58, calculated from mean GST) indicates that gene flow is low among Korean populations of the species. In addition, analysis of fixation indices revealed a substantial heterozygote deficiency in most populations and at all loci. This indicates that most populations sampled may have been substructed largely due to inbreeding (predominantly selfing) and restricted gene flow, coupled with founder effect and genetic drift. Considering a high genetic divergence among populations, it is recommended that several Korean populations of the species should be preserved, especially such as populations in the eastern and southeastern Korean peninsula with high variation.