title: Molecular analyses of the Chinese herb Leigongteng (Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f.).
abstract: Tripterygium wilfordii Hook.f., known as Leigongteng (Thunder God Vine) in traditional Chinese medicine, has attracted much attention for its applications in relieving autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, and for treating cancer. Molecular analyses of the ITS and 5S rDNA sequences indicate that T. hypoglaucum and T. doianum are not distinct from T. wilfordii, while T. regelii should be recognized as a separate species. The results also demonstrate potential value of rDNA sequence data in forensic detection of adulterants derived from Celastrus angulatus in commercial samples of Leigongteng.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: Sue Ka-Yee
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.forename: Natascha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Techen
authors.forename: Ikhlas A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Ming-Fang
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Pang-Chui
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Paul Pui-Hay
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: But
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D029757:Tripterygium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004247:DNA