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Species identifi cation of Rhododendron (Ericaceae) using the chloroplast deoxyribonucleic acid PsbA-trnH genetic marker

Yimei Liu1★, Lehua Zhang2, Zhen Liu1, Kun Luo3, Shilin Chen3, Keli Chen1★ Corresponding author

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resource and Compound Prescription, Ministry of Education, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, 430065, China.
  2. 2The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lushan Botanical Garden, Jiangxi, 332900, China.
  3. 3Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing,100193, P.R, China.

CORRESPONDENCE

Yimei Liu

Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resource and Compound Prescription, Ministry of Education, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, 430065, China.

Received: 08-04-2011; Revised: 18-04-2011.

Volume 8, Issue 29 · pp. 29–36 · PUBLISHED 28 February 2012 · DOI: 10.4103/0973-1296.93311

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ABSTRACT

Background: Rhododendron is a group of famous landscape plants with high medicinal value. However, there is no simple or universal manner to discriminate the various species of this group. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) barcoding technique is a new biological tool that can accurately and objectively identify species by using short and standard DNA regions. Objective: To choose a suitable DNA marker to authenticate the Rhododendron species. Materials and Methods: Four candidate DNA barcodes (rbcL, matK, psbAtrnH, and ITS2 intergenic spacer) were tested on 68 samples of 38 species. Results: The psbAtrnH candidate barcode yielded 86.8% sequencing effi ciency. The highest interspecifi c divergence was provided by the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer, based on six parameters, and the Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Although there was not a clear barcoding gap, the Wilcoxon Two sample tests indicated that the interspecifi c divergence of the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer was signifi cantly higher than the relevant intraspecifi c variation. The psbA-trnH DNA barcode possessed the highest species identifi cation effi ciency at 100% by the BLAST1 method. The present results showed that the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer was the most promising one of the four markers for barcoding the Rhododendron species. To further evaluate the ability of the psbA-trnH marker, to discriminate the closely related species, the samples were expanded to 94 samples of 53 species in the genus, and the rate of successful identifi cation was 93.6%. The psbA-trnH region would be useful even for unidentifi ed samples, as it could signifi cantly narrow their possible taxa to a small area. Conclusion: The psbA-trnH intergenic region is a valuable DNA marker for identifying the Rhododendron species.

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    Liu, Y., Zhang, L., Liu, Z., Luo, K., Chen, S., & Chen, K. (2012). Species identifi cation of Rhododendron (Ericaceae) using the chloroplast deoxyribonucleic acid PsbA-trnH genetic marker. Pharmacognosy Magazine, 8(29), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1296.93311