title: Multi-locus DNA barcoding identifies matK as a suitable marker for species identification in Hibiscus L.
abstract: The genus Hibiscus L. includes several taxa of medicinal value and species used for the extraction of natural dyes. These applications require the use of authentic plant materials. DNA barcoding is a molecular method for species identification, which helps in reliable authentication by using one or more DNA barcode marker. In this study, we have collected 44 accessions, representing 16 species of Hibiscus, distributed in the southern peninsular India, to evaluate the discriminatory power of the two core barcodes rbcLa and matK together with the suggested additional regions trnH-psbA and ITS2. No intraspecies divergence was observed among the accessions studied. Interspecies divergence was 0%-9.6% with individual markers, which increased to 0%-12.5% and 0.8%-20.3% when using two- and three-marker combinations, respectively. Differentiation of all the species of Hibiscus was possible with the matK DNA barcode marker. Also, in two-marker combinations, only those combinations with matK differentiated all the species. Though all the three-marker combinations showed 100% species differentiation, species resolution was consistently better when the matK marker formed part of the combination. These results clearly showed that matK is more suitable when compared to rbcLa, trnH-psbA, and ITS2 for species identification in Hibiscus.
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.|Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Sundar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poovitha
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.|Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Nithaniyal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stalin
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.|Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Raju
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Balaji
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.|Centre for DNA Barcoding, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Madasamy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parani
mesh_terms: D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D031584:Hibiscus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D007194:India; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Hibiscus; ITS2; barcoding; codage à barres; divergence; matK