title: The chemotaxonomic classification of Rhodiola plants and its correlation with morphological characteristics and genetic taxonomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rhodiola plants are used as a natural remedy in the western world and as a traditional herbal medicine in China, and are valued for their ability to enhance human resistance to stress or fatigue and to promote longevity. Due to the morphological similarities among different species, the identification of the genus remains somewhat controversial, which may affect their safety and effectiveness in clinical use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this paper, 47 Rhodiola samples of seven species were collected from thirteen local provinces of China. They were identified by their morphological characteristics and genetic and phytochemical taxonomies. Eight bioactive chemotaxonomic markers from four chemical classes (phenylpropanoids, phenylethanol derivatives, flavonoids and phenolic acids) were determined to evaluate and distinguish the chemotaxonomy of Rhodiola samples using an HPLC-DAD/UV method. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to compare the two classification methods between genetic and phytochemical taxonomy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The established chemotaxonomic classification could be effectively used for Rhodiola species identification.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China. lap64067611@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhenli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chunsheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhiqian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qinglin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zha
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhangchi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ning
authors.forename: Yuxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Aiping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lu