title: Identification of Cistanche species (Orobanchaceae) based on sequences of the plastid psbA-trnH intergenic region.
abstract: The dried succulent stems of Cistanche (Cistanche deserticola Y. C. Ma and Cistanche tubulosa Wight.) are one of the most widely used components of traditional Chinese medicines. However, it is often confused and substituted with the roots of Orobanche pycnostachya, Boschniakia rossica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Standl., Cistanche sinensis Beck, and Cistanche salsa (C. A. Mey.) Beck. In this study, we identified psbA-trnH regions from species and tested their suitable for the identification of the above mentioned taxa. The psbA-trnH sequences showed considerable variations between species and thus were revealed as a promising candidate for barcoding of Cistanche species. Additionally, the average genetic distance of psbA-trnH ranging from 0.077% to 0.743%. In contrast, the intra-specific variation among Cistanche species was found to be significantly different from those of other species, with percentages of variation studied ranged from 0% to 0.007%. The sequence difference between the psbA-trnH sequences of Cistanche species and Orobanche pycnostachya ranged from 0.979% to 1.149%. The distance between the Cistanche species and Boschniakia rossica ranged from 1.066% to 1.224%. Our results suggest that the psbA-trnH intergenic spacer region represent a barcode that can be used to identify Cistanche species and other morphologically undistinguishable species.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jing-Yuan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Ying-Jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Lin-Chun
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Shi-Lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D031671:Cistanche / Q000235:genetics*; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D031672:Orobanche / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000235:genetics; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000235:genetics*; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D018744:DNA, Plant