Classification of Korean Native Pear By Using a Standard Set of Simple Sequence Repeat Marker Alleles

Pyrus belongs to the subtribe Pyrinae, tribe Pyreae in the Spiraeoideae subfamily of the Rosaceae, which is commercially third important temperate fruit. Germplasm collections conserve diversity in an accessible way for the research community and identification of germplasm depended on morphological characteristics. However, use of germplasm collection is compromised by mis-identification. Mis-identification of genetic resources especially in fruit collection which require large land and take long time to escape juvenile phase causes serious problem. For utilization of fruit germplasm, accurate identification is necessary. Microsatellite marker is powerful tool of accurate identification replacing morphological characteristics. The main objective of the study was identification of Korean native pears without morphological observation. Twenty nine of Korean native pear cultivars were analyzed with twelve primers covering whole pear genome. P. communis was out-grouped and except for P.communis group, three groups were detected. Three major groups was corresponding to P. pyrifolia, P. calleryana, and P. ussuriensis. Korean pea pear species were genetically similar to P. calleryana and the group of P. calleryana was located between P. pyrifolia and P. ussuriensis. The result means that the three species were more genetically related than P. communis. The symbol of Korean pea pear cultivars located between P. pyrifolia and P. ussuriensis in the result from principal component analysis (PCA) which means that genetic composition of Korean pea pear cultivars was similar to P. pyrifolia and P. ussuriensis With the identification data, classification without morphological characteristics might be reliable and efficient management of Korean pear germplasm collection is promising.