Chloroplast DNA variation in Indonesian dipterocarpaceae-phylogenetic, taxonomic, and population genetic aspects

The tropical tree family Dipterocarpaceae is the most important family of forest trees in natural and close-to-nature forests in Southeast Asia. Dipterocarps form dominant elements within the rain forest tree flora in this region. More than 300 dipterocarp species are native to Indonesia. Kalimantan is the diversity centre of the family with more than 260 species, including 155 endemics found only on this island. Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation of dipterocarp species from Indonesia has been studied by means of PCR-RFLP and cpSSR techniques in order to infer a molecular phylogeny of Asian Dipterocarpaceae (subfamily Dipterocarpoideae) and to characterize the haplotypic diversity of four Shorea species populations in Kalimantan and Sumatra.