Survey on resources of Ephedra plants in Xinjiang.
The resources of wild Ephedra plants in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were surveyed. Ephedra plants mainly grow on the fringes of the Taklimakan Desert and Gureban-tonggute Desert. We found six genotypes of Ephedra przewalskii growing widely in Xinjiang. Three genotypes of Ephedra intermedia were limited to the northern and eastern parts, and Ephedra regeliana scattered in the northern part of Xinjiang. These Ephedra specimens were analyzed for DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA, internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2, chloroplastic DNA, trnL intron and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer. Intraspecific variation of the nucleotide sequence in E. przewalskii was found in different habitats. Norephedrine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and methylephedrine contents of the specimens were determined. Although Ephedra intermedia of all three genotypes contained ephedrine alkaloids, ephedrine alkaloids were not detected in E. regeliana and E. przewalskii.
Long
Changfeng
C
Kanazawa University Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kakuma, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan.
Kakiuchi
Nobuko
N
Zhong
Guoyue
G
Mikage
Masayuki
M
D002681:China; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000302:isolation & purification; D029789:Ephedra / Q000235:genetics*; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000235:genetics
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal