title: DNA barcoding evaluation and its taxonomic implications in the species-rich genus Primula L. in China.
abstract: The genus Primula is extremely diverse in the east Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains (HHM) in China as a result of rapid radiation. In order to overcome the difficulty of morphological classification of this genus, we surveyed three plastid regions (rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA) and two nuclear markers (ITS and ITS2) from 227 accessions representing 66 Primula species across 18 sections, to assess their discriminatory power as barcodes. We found that ITS alone or combined with plastid regions showed the best discrimination across different infrageneric ranks and at species level. We suggest rbcL + matK + ITS as the first choice at present to barcode Primula plants. Although the present barcoding combination performed poorly in many closely related species of Primula, it still provided many new insights into current Primula taxonomy, such as the underlying presence of cryptic species, and several potential improper taxonomic treatments. DNA barcoding is one useful technique in the integrative taxonomy of the genus Primula, but it still requires further efforts to improve its effectiveness in some taxonomically challenging groups.
authors: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Hai-Fei
authors: HF
authors: Yan
authors: College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Yun-Jiao
authors: YJ
authors: Liu
authors: Tropical Agriculture department, Guangdong Agriculture Industry Business Polytechnic College, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Xiu-Feng
authors: XF
authors: Xie
authors: College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Cai-Yun
authors: CY
authors: Zhang
authors: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Chi-Ming
authors: CM
authors: Hu
authors: College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Gang
authors: G
authors: Hao
authors: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Xue-Jun
authors: XJ
authors: Ge
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics; D031825:Primula / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer