title: Medicinal parasitic plants on diverse hosts with their usages and barcodes.
abstract: Medicinal properties of parasitic plants were investigated by means of ethnobotanical study in some areas of northeastern Thailand. Important traditional usages are: Scurrula atropurpurea nourishes blood, Dendrophthoe pentandra decreases high blood pressure, and Helixanthera parasitica treats liver disease. Their systematics were also determined. The research is based on findings obtained from 100 parasite-host pairs. Of these, eight parasitic species were recorded; they are members of two families, viz. family Loranthaceae, namely D. lanosa, D. pentandra, H. parasitica, Macrosolen brandisianus, M. cochinchinensis and S. atropurpurea, and family Viscaceae, namely Viscum articulatum and V. ovalifolium. In addition, each parasitic species is found on diverse hosts, indicating non-host-parasitic specificity. Species-specific tagging of all species studied was carried out using the rbcL and psbA-trnH chloroplast regions. These tag sequences are submitted to GenBank databases under accession numbers JN687563-JN687578. Genetic distances calculated from nucleotide variations in a couple of species of each genus, Dendrophthoe, Macrosolen, and Viscum, were 0.032, 0.067 and 0.036 in the rbcL region, and 0.269, 0.073 and 0.264 in the psbA-trnH spacer region, respectively. These variations will be used for further identification of incomplete plant parts or other forms such as capsule, powder, dried or chopped pieces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Khon Kaen University, 123 Mitraphap Highway, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
authors.forename: Nantiya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kwanda
authors.forename: Kowit
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Noikotr
authors.forename: Runglawan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sudmoon
authors.forename: Tawatchai
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanee
authors.forename: Arunrat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaveerach
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D019448:Ethnobotany; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005838:Genotype; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D028183:Loranthaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity; D013785:Thailand; D028163:Viscaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D018744:DNA, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; C101625:RbcL protein, plastid; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase