title: Application of the Ribosomal DNA ITS2 Region of Physalis (Solanaceae): DNA Barcoding and Phylogenetic Study.
abstract: Recently, commercial interest in Physalis species has grown worldwide due to their high nutritional value, edible fruit, and potential medicinal properties. However, many Physalis species have similar shapes and are easily confused, and consequently the phylogenetic relationships between Physalis species are poorly understood. This hinders their safe utilization and genetic resource conservation. In this study, the nuclear ribosomal ITS2 region was used to identify species and phylogenetically examine Physalis. Eighty-six ITS2 regions from 45 Physalis species were analyzed. The ITS2 sequences were aligned using Clustal W and genetic distances were calculated using MEGA V6.0. The results showed that ITS2 regions have significant intra- and inter-specific divergences, obvious barcoding gaps, and higher species discrimination rates (82.2% for both the BLASTA1 and nearest distance methods). In addition, the secondary structure of ITS2 provided another way to differentiate species. Cluster analysis based on ITS2 regions largely concurred with the relationships among Physalis species established by many previous molecular analyses, and showed that most sections of Physalis appear to be polyphyletic. Our results demonstrated that ITS2 can be used as an efficient and powerful marker in the identification and phylogenetic study of Physalis species. The technique provides a scientific basis for the conservation of Physalis plants and for utilization of resources.
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shangguo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Mengying
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang Gongshang University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yujun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Kaili
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chenjia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jiangjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qicai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Genetic Improvement and Quality Control of Medicinal Plants, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Huizhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: DNA barcoding; ITS2; Physalis; molecular identification; phylogenetic relationship