Discrimination of genus Camellia cultivars

Recently, many new cultivars are taken abroad illegally, which is now considered an international issue. Botanical evidence found at a crime scene provides valuable information about the origin of the sample. However, botanical resources for forensic evidence remain underutilized because molecular markers, such as microsatellites, are not available without a limited set of species. Multiplexed ISSR genotyping by sequencing (MIG-seq) has been used to determine a number of genome-wide genetic markers and can be applied for every plant, including species that lack genetic information. Camellia cultivars are popular worldwide and are often planted in many gardens and bred to make new cultivars. In this study, we aimed to analyze Camellia cultivars/species through MIG-seq. Through this, MIG-seq could discriminate similar samples, such as bud mutations and closely related samples which could not be distinguished based on morphological features. This discrimination was consistent with that of a previous study which classified cultivars by short tandem repeat (STR) markers, indicating that MIG-seq has the same or higher discrimination ability as STR markers. Furthermore, based on our results, unknown phylogenetic relationships were observed. Since MIG-seq can be applied to unlimited species and low-quality DNA, it may be useful for various scientific fields.