title: Authentication of the family Polygonaceae in Chinese pharmacopoeia by DNA barcoding technique.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medicinal plants belonging to the family Polygonaceae in Chinese pharmacopoeia possess important medicinal efficacy in traditional Chinese medicines.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  DNA barcodes are first used to discriminate the Polygonaceae in Chinese pharmacopoeia and their adulterants.
  
  
  METHODS
  DNA samples, extracted from thirty-eight specimens belonging to eighteen species in Polygonaceae, were used as templates. Eight candidate barcodes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis was accomplished by CodonCode Aligner V 2.06 and DNAman V 6. Species identification was performed using MEGA V 4.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amplification efficiency of six candidate DNA barcodes (rbcL, trnH-psbA, ndhJ, rpoB, rpoC1, accD) was 100%, while the efficiency of YCF5 and nrITS was 56% and 44%, respectively. The interspecific divergence was highest for the trnH-psbA (20.05%), followed by the nrITS (14.01%) across all species pairs, while intraspecific variation both within populations and between populations was absent (0.0%). The trnH-psbA can not only distinguish ten species of Polygonaceae in Chinese pharmacopoeia, but also recognize eight other species of Polygonaceae including their adulterants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show that DNA barcoding is an efficient tool for identification of Polygonaceae in Chinese pharmacopoeia and their adulterants.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, 151 Malianwa North Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, PR China.
authors.forename: Jingyuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yulin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Caixiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Shilin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D010602:Pharmacopoeias as Topic; D019664:Polygonaceae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant