Horticultural Science and Technology 원예과학기술지 ISSN:1226-8763(Print) 2465-8588(Online)

Hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.) is commonly cultivated as an ornamental plant for its attractive characteristics. While numerous hydrangea cultivars are available as genetic resources, they cannot be utilized effectively for breeding purposes because of a lack of information on their genetic relationship and breeding compatibility. In this study, genetic relationships within a collection of 34 accessions consisting of 4 species of hydrangea (H. macrophylla, H. paniculata, H. serrata, and H. arborescens) were evaluated using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. The hydrangea cultivars were maintained in the greenhouse at Chonnam National University. The dendogram of the genetic relationship was subjected to a clustering analysis in the PAST program using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) method to estimate the genetic distances and relatedness among the species. Based on RAPD analysis, H. macrophylla was separated into two major groups with high levels of genetic similarity among the cultivars. H. paniculata accessions were classified into one major group with ‘Womseuredeu’ genetically distant from the other cultivars. H. serrata and H. arborescens were divided into two separated groups. The dendrogram suggests that H. macrophylla and H. serrata are genetically similar therefore the chance of hybridization between this species may be greater than that between more distantly related species. The present study provides useful information for the breeding of hydrangea cultivars.