Soo-Rang Lee

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at Chosun University

Defining species and delineating boundaries among closely related species is challenging particularly for species complexes with a recent history of diversification. The Polygonatum odoratum complex, consisting of seven taxa, presents a compelling example showing unresolved taxonomic boundaries. Here, we aim to delimit taxonomic boundaries in the c...

Angelica L. has attracted global interest for its traditional medicinal uses and commercial values. However, few studies have focused on the metabolomic differences among the Angelica species. In this study, widely targeted metabolomics based on gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was employed to analyze the metabolomes of four Angelica spe...

The genus Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) has near-cosmopolitan distribution and serves as a significant resource for both ornamental and medicinal purposes. Despite its economic importance, Euphorbia's taxonomy has long been challenged by the intricate nature of morphological traits exhibiting high levels of convergence. While molecular markers are esse...

Identifying stages of a species invasion in a new habitat (i.e., colonization, establishment, and landscape spread) and their primary determinants in biological invasion warrants attention, as it provides vital insights for preventing non-native species from becoming pervasive invaders. However, delineating invasion stages and their associated fact...

Biological invasion consists of spatially and temporally varying stages, accompanied by ecological and evolutionary changes. Understanding the genomics underlying invasion dynamics provides critical insights into the geographic sources and genetic diversity, contributing to successful invasions across space and time. Here, we used genomic data and...

Iris is a cosmopolitan genus comprising approximately 280 species distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Although Iris is the most diverse group in the Iridaceae, the number of taxa is debatable owing to various taxonomic issues. Plastid genomes have been widely used for phylogenetic research in plants; however, only limited number of plas...

The genus Polygonatum Miller (1754: without page) consists of perennial herbs, distributed in the temperate Northern hemisphere (POWO 2024). It is well appreciated in East Asia for its wide array of commercial uses and the species diversity (Kim et al. 2014, Floden 2017). Despite the increased recognition of its value as a natural resource, knowled...

Euphorbia prostrata Aiton 1789, an annual herb, is native to tropical and subtropical Americas and was introduced into many parts of the Old-World including Korea. We determined the genomic characteristics of the complete chloroplast genome of E. prostrata with a de novo assembly strategy. The complete chloroplast genome was 162,858 bp long, and ha...

Biological invasion is a complex process associated with propagule pressure, dispersal ability, environmental constraints, and human interventions, which leave genetic signatures. The population genetics of an invasive species thus provides invaluable insights into the patterns of invasion. Burcucumber, one of the most detrimental weeds for soybean...

Biological invasion poses several biotic and abiotic challenges due to abrupt distribution shifts. Invasive species may benefit from local adaptation responding to environmental stresses during colonization. Saltcedar (Tamarix), a notorious invasive shrub in the western US introduced from Eurasia may have adapted to low rainfall as the species wide...

Phedimus individuals from Mt. Daeam, once referred to as Phedimus sikokianus, exhibit certain morphological characters that are unique within the genus. Phedimus is one of the most notorious groups for taxo-nomic problems due to the high morphological variation found in leaf shape, stem numbers, phyllotaxis and seed structure. Taxa in Phedimus also...

The nomenclatural status of two Carex species described by Ohwi, are reviewed. We found typification errors in C. chosenica Ohwi and C. ochrochlamys Ohwi. Accordingly, proper lectotypifications for the two taxa are provided here. We desginated specimens from the Kyoto University Herbarium (KYO) as lectotype for the two Carex taxa.

Sicyos angulatus (burcucumber) is an annual plant native to the north-eastern America. We investigated the genomic characteristics of the complete chloroplast (CP) genome in S. angulatus with a de novo strategy. The CP genome was 154,986 bp in length including 84 protein coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. It has large single-copy (L...

The genus Cyrtomium is one of the most taxonomically challenging groups, which comprises about 40 taxa globally. Cyrtomium yamamotoi is a great example showing the taxonomic difficulties in the genus. The plant was first described as a variety (C. fortunei var. intermedium), thereafter the rank was moved to a species by Tagawa in 1938. Cyrtomium ya...

Polygonatum falcatum is a perennial herb distributed in East Asia. We determined the characteristics of the complete chloroplast genome in P. falcatum for the first time, with a de novo assembly strategy. The chloroplast genome was 154,579bp in length harboring 87 protein coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and eight rRNA genes. It exhibits typical quadrip...

Monitoring intraspecific diversity offers invaluable insights on conservation practices as the variation is the product of species evolution. Accordingly, the role of population genetic diversity has drawn great attention over the last century responding to the biodiversity loss induced by a series of anthropogenic changes. Orchids are one of the m...

Success of a species invasion partly depends on the level of genetic variability, since the expected founder effect likely limit the amount of genetic variation harbored in the introduced range. Multiple introductions and admixture might amiliorate the complications following lowered genetic variability particularly in early stages of species invas...

Given the significant impact of molecular markers on the genetic diversity assessment, understanding genetic diversity pattern across diverse marker types in comparative manner is of great importance. In Korea, within the last 10 years population genetics studies of wild plants have drawn much attention as varying DNA markers have developed. To inv...

Genus Polygonatum Mill. (Asparagaceae) is a diverse plant group that is particularly well appreciated in East Asia for the wide array of commercial uses and the species diversity. Despite the increased recognition for its value as the natural resources, knowledge on the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships among congeners have been lacking. The...

Rosa kokanica is a deciduous shrub distributed in Central Asia. We determined the genomic characteristics of the complete chloroplast genome in R. kokanica with a de novo assembly strategy. The chloroplast genome was 156,802bp in length harboring 89 protein coding genes, 37 tRNA genes and eight rRNA genes. It exhibits typical quadripartite structur...

As anthropogenic transports of biomaterials have rapidly escalated in the past century, biological invasions have been of great concern on a global scale. Given the exponential growth of alien species passing through the initial point of introduction, reporting an alien species on its initial appearance is important. Sisymbrium irio, an annual herb...

There is growing attention given to gene flow between crops and the wild relatives as global landscapes have been rapidly converted into agricultural farm fields over the past century. Crop-to-wild introgression may advance the extinction risks of rare plants through demographic swamping and/or genetic swamping. Malus sieversii, the progenitor of t...

Non-indigenous plants introduced to a new region outside of the native range are likely to face novel environments, where harbor several biotic and abiotic challenges. Thus, most of those fail to adapt to the novel habitats, yet a few of those plants may successfully grow in the new region and expand their distribution posing great threats in the n...

Commelina caroliniana Water, was founded in Jongdal-ri (Gujwa-eup, Jeju Island) for the first time, is widely distributed arable land near the coast and roads. C. caroliniana belongs to Commelinaceae and native to Bangladesh, India. This species can be distinguished from its allied species in Korea by several characters as followings: apex acuminat...

Publication of a replacement name is governed by Art. 6.11–6.13 of the Shenzhen Code (Turland & al. in Regnum. Veg. 159. 2018). Art. 6.11 states that a replacement name is a new name published as an explicit substitute for a legitimate or illegitimate, previously published name. The replaced synonym, when legitimate, does not provide the final epit...

Iris loczyi is a perennial rhizomatous herb distributed in Central Asia. We examined genomic architecture of the complete chloroplast genome in I. loczyi by assembling the Illumina MiSeq reads using de novo strategy. The chloroplast genome is 150,940 bp in length harboring 79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. It exhibits typ...

Species invasions have rapidly increased due to the substantial growth of global trade in the recent past. As the awareness of the negative effects on natural ecosystems derived from alien species has grown, many countries and lawmakers have enacted rules and policies on the conservation of indigenous plants. Unfortunately, in Korea, research on sp...

We report a complete chloroplast genome sequence of Malus sieversii. The CP genome was 160,223 bp in length with a typical quadripartite structure. Length of large single-copy (LSC) was 88,334 bp, whereas small single-copy (SSC) was 19,179 bp in length. A pair of inverted repeats (IR) were 26,355 bp. In total, 128 genes were found including 83 prot...

Introduction of alien plants has grown rapidly within the last few decades in Korea due to climate changes and increased inter-continental trade. Alien plants are plants that are intentionally and/or unintentionally introduced to areas where the species are not naturally grown. Once they establish in the introduced area and spread widely to natural...

Background: The genus Hosta is a group of economically appreciated perennial herbs consisting of approximately 25 species that is endemic to eastern Asia. Due to considerable morphological variability, the genus has been well recognized as a group with taxonomic problems. Chloroplast is a cytoplasmic organelle with its own genome, which is the mos...

Range-wide population studies of wide spread species are often associated with complex diversity patterns resulting from genetically divergent evolutionary significant units (ESUs). The compound evolutionary history creating such a pattern of diversity can be inferred through molecular analyses. Asparagus cochinchinensis, a medicinally important pe...

Key message Genotyping data of a comprehensive Korean soybean collection obtained using a large SNP array were used to clarify global distribution patterns of soybean and address the evolutionary history of soybean. Abstract Understanding diversity and evolution of a crop is an essential step to implement a strategy to expand its germplasm base fo...

Premise of the Study Plagiorhegma dubium (Berberidaceae) has been listed as an endangered species in Korea due to extensive collection and destruction of natural habitats. In this study, 30 microsatellite loci, including 25 polymorphic loci, were developed for P. dubium for use in population‐level genetic analyses. Methods and Results We carried o...

Distribution of genetic variation over time and space is relevant to demographic histories and tightly linked to ecological disturbances as well as evolutionary potential of an organism. Therefore, understanding the pattern of genetic diversity is a primary step in conservation and management projects for rare and threatened plant species. We used...

Understanding diversity and evolution of a crop is an essential step to implement a strategy to expand its germplasm base for crop improvement research. Samples intensively collected from Korea, which is a small but central region in the distribution geography of soybean, were genotyped to provide sufficient data to underpin genome-wide population...

The taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of related taxa are important for understanding the biology of a species. Also, spatial distribution of genetic variation may offer insights into history of range shifts and demographic changes. The genus Tamarix L. from the Old World is a taxonomically challenging group that has widely expanded its range...

The cognizing of connectivity among small mammal populations across heterogeneous landscapes is complicated due to complex influences of landscape and anthropogenic factors on gene flow. A landscape genetics approach offers inferences on how landscape features drive population structure. Through a landscape genetics approach, we investigated influe...

Human-driven habitat fragmentation leads to spatial isolation of endangered plant species increasing extinction risk. Understanding genetic variability and population structure of rare and isolated plant species is of great importance for assessing extinction risk and setting up conservation plans. Aconitum austrokoreense, an endangered and endemic...

The purpose of this study was to ascertain and analyze environmental factors of subgenus Lycoctonum in Korea for conservation and management of rare high land plant species by GIS. We derived the habitat model of Lycoctonum from GPS coordination, habitat factors and digital topology maps. Suitable altitude fur the subgenus Lycoctonum is from 470m t...