RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To study the identification method and phylogenetic relationships of four medicines of Panax L genus: Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, P. quinquefolicum L. , P. notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen and P. japonicus C. A. Meyer. METHODS: The mitochondrial nad 1 gene was amplified. Their sequence differences were analyzed after sequencing and alignment. RESULTS: The sequence lengths of P. ginseng (including Chinese transplanted ginseng and Korean ginseng), P. japonicus were 1 290 bp, and those of P. quinquefolicum and P. notoginseng were 1 269 bp and 1 522 bp respectively. The main difference among these sequences was in nad 1 gene b/c intron. The NJ phylogenetic tree showed that P. ginseng was most closely related to P. japonicus, next was closer to P. quinquefolicum, and P. notoginseng was comparatively distantly related to P. ginseng. CONCLUSION: P. quinquefolicum and P. notoginseng can be identified from the 4 medicines of Panax L. based on the sequence difference in mitochondrial nad 1 gene. The mitochondrial nad 1 gene b/c intron can provide some evolutionary information, therefore, it is useful to identify and phylogenetically analyse for the medicines of Panax L. genus.