title: Rapid authentication of ginseng species using microchip electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection.
abstract: Ginseng is one of the most expensive Chinese herbal medicines and the effectiveness of ginseng depends strongly on its botanical sources and the use of different parts of the plants. In this study, a microchip electrophoresis method coupled with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-short tandem repeats (STR) technique was developed for rapid authentication of ginseng species. A low viscosity hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) solution was used as the sieving matrix for separation of the amplified STR fragments. The allele sizing of the amplified PCR products could be detected within 240 s or less. Good reproducibility and accuracy of the fragment size were obtained with the relative standard deviation for the allele sizes less than 1.0% (n=11). At two microsatellite loci (CT 12, CA 33), American ginseng had a different allele pattern on the electropherograms compared with that of the Oriental ginseng. Moreover, cultivated and wild American ginseng can be distinguished on the basis of allele sizing. This work establishes the feasibility of fast genetic authentication of ginseng species by use of microchip electrophoresis.
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongsham Road, 116023 Dalian, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Frederick C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Yingsing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: Derong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Bingcheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D046209:Electrophoresis, Microchip; D005787:Gene Frequency; D007834:Lasers; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D005894:Panax / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate