Changes in Tablet Color Due to Light Irradiation: Photodegradation of the Coating Polymer, Hypromellose, by Titanium Dioxide.

The color of the tablets and capsules produced by pharmaceutical companies is important from the perspectives of product branding and counterfeiting. According to some studies, light can change tablet color during storage. In this study, tablets comprising amlodipine besylate (AB), a well-known light-sensitive drug, were coated with commonly used coating materials and exposed to light. Compared to the tablets that were not exposed to light, the color of those exposed to light changed over time. In fact, a faster and more pronounced color change was observed in the tablets exposed to light; however, the amount of AB did not decrease significantly in these tablets. The coating materials and their amounts were varied to clarify the materials involved in the color change. Based on the results, titanium dioxide and hypromellose may be involved in the color change process. As titanium dioxide is a photocatalyst, it may induce or promote chemical changes in hypromellose upon light irradiation. Overall, care should be exercised during selection of the coating polymer because titanium dioxide may promote photodegradation of the coatings while protecting the tablet's active ingredient from light.

Norovirus evolves as one or more distinct clonal populations in immunocompromised hosts.

Noroviruses are a major cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide and can establish chronic infection in immunocompromised individuals. To investigate the mechanisms of norovirus evolution during chronic infection, we selected seven representative patients from a National Institutes of Health study cohort who sustained norovirus infection for periods ranging from 73 to 1,492 days. Six patients shed viruses belonging to a single genotype (GII.2[PNA], GII.4 New Orleans[P4], GII.4 Den Haag[P4], GII.3[P21], GII.6[P7], or GII.14[P7]) over the period examined, while one patient sequentially shed two genotypes (GII.6[P7] followed by GII.4 Sydney[P31]). Norovirus genomes from consecutive stool samples were sequenced at high resolution (>3,300 reads/nucleotide position) using the Illumina platform and subjected to bioinformatics analysis. Norovirus sequences could be resolved into one or more discrete clonal RNA genomes that persisted within these patients over time. Phylogenetic analyses inferred that clonal populations originated from a single founder virus and not by reinfection with community strains. Estimated evolutionary rates of clonal populations during persistent infection were similar to those of noroviruses from acute infection in the global database, suggesting that inherently higher RNA-dependent polymerase error rates were not associated with the ability to persist. The high-resolution analysis of norovirus diversity and evolution at the population level described here should allow a better understanding of adaptive mutations sustained during chronic infection. IMPORTANCE Noroviruses are an important cause of chronic diarrhea in patients with compromised immune systems. Presently, there are no effective therapies to clear the virus, which can persist for years in the intestinal tract. The goal of our study was to develop a better understanding of the norovirus strains that are associated with these long-term infections. With the remarkable diversity of norovirus strains detected in the immunocompromised patient cohort we studied, it appears that most, if not all, noroviruses circulating in nature may have the capacity to establish a chronic infection when a person is unable to mount an effective immune response. Our work is the most comprehensive genetic data set generated to date in which near full-length genomes from noroviruses associated with chronic infection were analyzed by high-resolution next-generation sequencing. Analysis of this data set led to our discovery that certain patients in our cohort were shedding noroviruses that could be subdivided into distinct haplotypes or populations of viruses that were co-evolving independently. The ability to track haplotypes of noroviruses during chronic infection will allow us to fine-tune our understanding of how the virus adapts and maintains itself in the human host, and how selective pressures such as antiviral drugs can affect these distinct populations.

Molecular Evolutionary Analyses of the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRp) Region and VP1 Gene in Human Norovirus Genotypes GII.P6-GII.6 and GII.P7-GII.6.

To understand the evolution of GII.P6-GII.6 and GII.P7-GII.6 strains, the prevalent human norovirus genotypes, we analysed both the RdRp region and VP1 gene in globally collected strains using authentic bioinformatics technologies. A common ancestor of the P6- and P7-type RdRp region emerged approximately 50 years ago and a common ancestor of the P6- and P7-type VP1 gene emerged approximately 110 years ago. Subsequently, the RdRp region and VP1 gene evolved. Moreover, the evolutionary rates were significantly faster for the P6-type RdRp region and VP1 gene than for the P7-type RdRp region and VP1 genes. Large genetic divergence was observed in the P7-type RdRp region and VP1 gene compared with the P6-type RdRp region and VP1 gene. The phylodynamics of the RdRp region and VP1 gene fluctuated after the year 2000. Positive selection sites in VP1 proteins were located in the antigenicity-related protruding 2 domain, and these sites overlapped with conformational epitopes. These results suggest that the GII.6 VP1 gene and VP1 proteins evolved uniquely due to recombination between the P6- and P7-type RdRp regions in the HuNoV GII.P6-GII.6 and GII.P7-GII.6 virus strains.

Influence diagnostics and outlier detection for meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy.

Meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) studies have been gaining prominence in research in clinical epidemiology and health technology development. In these DTA meta-analyses, some studies may have markedly different characteristics from the others and potentially be inappropriate to include. The inclusion of these "outlying" studies might lead to biases, yielding misleading results. In addition, there might be influential studies that have notable impacts on the results. In this article, we propose Bayesian methods for detecting outlying studies and their influence diagnostics in DTA meta-analyses. Synthetic influence measures based on the bivariate hierarchical Bayesian random effects models are developed because the overall influences of individual studies should be simultaneously assessed by the two outcome variables and their correlation information. We propose four synthetic measures for influence analyses: (a) relative distance, (b) standardized residual, (c) Bayesian p-value, and (d) influence statistic on the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve. We also show that conventional univariate Bayesian influential measures can be applied to the bivariate random effects models, which can be used as marginal influential measures. Most of these methods can be similarly applied to the frequentist framework. We illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods by applying them to a DTA meta-analysis of ultrasound in screening for vesicoureteral reflux among children with urinary tract infections.

Molecular evolution of the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) gene in human respirovirus 3.

Human respirovirus 3 (HRV3) is a major causative agent of acute respiratory infections in humans. HRV3 can manifest as a recurrent infection, although exactly how is not known. In the present study, we conducted detailed molecular evolutionary analyses of the major antigen-coding hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) gene of this virus detected/isolated in various countries. We performed analyses of time-scaled evolution, similarity, selective pressure, phylodynamics, and conformational epitope prediction by mapping to HN protein models. In this way, we estimated that a common ancestor of the HN gene of HRV3 and bovine respirovirus 3 diverged around 1815 and formed many lineages in the phylogenetic tree. The evolutionary rates of the HN gene were 1.1 × 10-3 substitutions/site/year, although the majority of these substitutions were synonymous. Some positive and many negative selection sites were predicted in the HN protein. Phylodynamic fluctuations of the gene were observed, and these were different in each lineage. Furthermore, most of the predicted B cell epitopes did not correspond to the neutralization-related mouse monoclonal antibody binding sites. The lack of a link between the conformational epitopes and neutralization sites may explain the naturally occurring HRV3 reinfection.

Evolutionary Analysis of the VP1 and RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Regions of Human Norovirus GII.P17-GII.17 in 2013-2017.

Human norovirus (HuNoV) GII.P17-GII.17 (Kawasaki2014 variant) reportedly emerged in 2014 and caused gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. To clarify the evolution of both VP1 and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) regions of GII.P17-GII.17, we analyzed both global and novel Japanese strains detected during 2013-2017. Time-scaled phylogenetic trees revealed that the ancestral GII.17 VP1 region diverged around 1949, while the ancestral GII.P17 RdRp region diverged around 2010. The evolutionary rates of the VP1 and RdRp regions were estimated at ~2.7 × 10-3 and ~2.3 × 10-3 substitutions/site/year, respectively. The phylogenetic distances of the VP1 region exhibited no overlaps between intra-cluster and inter-cluster peaks in the GII.17 strains, whereas those of the RdRp region exhibited a unimodal distribution in the GII.P17 strains. Conformational epitope positions in the VP1 protein of the GII.P17-GII.17 strains were similar, although some substitutions, insertions and deletions had occurred. Strains belonging to the same cluster also harbored substitutions around the binding sites for the histo-blood group antigens of the VP1 protein. Moreover, some amino acid substitutions were estimated to be near the interface between monomers and the active site of the RdRp protein. These results suggest that the GII.P17-GII.17 virus has produced variants with the potential to alter viral antigenicity, host-binding capability, and replication property over the past 10 years.

Variation of human norovirus GII genotypes detected in Ibaraki, Japan, during 2012-2018.

BACKGROUND: Human norovirus (HuNoV) is the major cause of viral acute gastroenteritis for all age groups in various countries. HuNoV GII in particular accounted for the majority of norovirus outbreaks, among which GII.4 caused repeated outbreaks for a long time. Besides GII.4, other norovirus genotypes, GII.2, GII.6, and GII.17, have also been prevalent in various contexts in recent years, but few detailed epidemiological studies of them have been performed and are poorly understood. We thus conducted an epidemiological analysis of HuNoV GII in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, by performing surveillance in the six seasons from September 2012 to August 2018. RESULTS: HuNoV GI occurred almost sporadically for all genotypes; however, each genotype of GII exhibited its typical epidemiological characteristics. Although the number of outbreaks of GII.4 decreased season by season, it reemerged in 2017/2018 season. The timing of the epidemic peak in terms of number of cases for GII.17 differed from that for the other genotypes. The patients age with GII.2 and GII.6 were younger and outbreak of GII.17 occurred frequently as food poisoning. Namely, the primarily infected outbreak group differed for each genotype of HuNoV GII. Moreover, the viral load of patients differed according to the genotype. CONCLUSIONS: Various HuNoV genotypes including GII.2, GII.4, GII.6, and GII.17 were shown to be associated with various types of outbreak sites (at childcare and educational facilities, involving cases of food poisoning, and at elderly nursing homes) in this study. These genotypes emerged in recent years, and their prevalence patterns differed from each other. Moreover, differences in outbreak sites and viral load of patients among the genotypes were identified.

Insulator Activities of Nucleosome-Excluding DNA Sequences without Bound Chromatin Looping Proteins.

Chromosomes consist of various domains with different transcriptional activities separated by chromatin boundary sequences such as insulator sequences. Recent studies suggested that CTCF or other chromatin loop-forming protein binding sequences represented typical insulators. Alternatively, some long nucleosome-excluding DNA sequences were also reported to exhibit insulator activities in yeast and sea urchin chromosomes, although specific binding of loop-forming proteins was not expected for them. However, the mechanism of the insulator activities of these sequences and the possibilities of similar insulators existing in other organisms remained unclear. In this study, we first constructed and performed simulations of a coarse-grained chromatin model containing nucleosome-rich and nucleosome-excluding DNA regions. We found that a long nucleosome-excluding region between two nucleosome-rich regions could markedly hinder the associations of two neighboring chromatin regions owing to the stronger long-term-averaged rigidity of the nucleosome-excluding region compared to that of nucleosome-rich regions. Subsequent analysis of the genome-wide nucleosome positioning, protein binding, and DNA rigidity in human cells revealed that some nucleosome-excluding rigid DNA sequences without bound chromatin looping proteins could exhibit insulator activities, functioning as chromatin boundaries in various regions of human chromosomes.

Molecular Evolution of the Fusion Protein (F) Gene in Human Respirovirus 3.

To elucidate the evolution of human respirovirus 3 (HRV3), we performed detailed genetic analyses of the F gene (full-length) detected from hundreds of HRV3 strains obtained from various geographic regions. First, we performed time-scaled evolutionary analyses using the Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method. Then, we performed analyses of phylodynamics, similarity, phylogenetic distance, selective pressure, and conformational B-cell epitope with the F-protein structural analyses. Time-scaled phylogenetic tree showed that the common ancestor of HRV3 and bovine respirovirus 3 diverged over 300 years ago and subdivided it into three major clusters and four subclusters during the most recent 100 years. The overall evolutionary rate was approximately 10-3 substitutions/site/year. Indigenous similarity was seen in the present strains, and the mean phylogenetic distance were 0.033. Many negative selection sites were seen in the ectodomain. The conformational epitopes did not correspond to the neutralizing antibody binding sites. These results suggest that the HRV3 F gene is relatively conserved and restricted in this diversity to preserve the protein function, although these strains form many branches on the phylogenetic tree. Furthermore, HRV3 reinfection may be responsible for discordances between the conformational epitopes and the neutralizing antibody binding sites of the F protein. These findings contribute to a better understanding of HRV3 virology.

Molecular Evolution of the Protease Region in Norovirus Genogroup II.

Noroviruses are a major cause of viral epidemic gastroenteritis in humans worldwide. The protease (Pro) encoded in open reading frame 1 (ORF1) is an essential enzyme for proteolysis of the viral polyprotein. Although there are some reports regarding the evolutionary analysis of norovirus GII-encoding genes, there are few reports focused on the Pro region. We analyzed the molecular evolution of the Pro region of norovirus GII using bioinformatics approaches. A time-scaled phylogenetic tree of the Pro region constructed using a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method indicated that the common ancestor of GII diverged from GIV around 1680 CE [95% highest posterior density (HPD), 1607-1749]. The GII Pro region emerged around 1752 CE (95%HPD, 1707-1794), forming three further lineages. The evolutionary rate of GII Pro region was estimated at more than 10-3 substitutions/site/year. The distribution of the phylogenetic distances of each genotype differed, and showed genetic diversity. Mapping of the negative selection and substitution sites of the Pro structure showed that the substitution sites in the Pro protein were mostly produced under neutral selection in positions structurally adjacent to the active sites for proteolysis, whereas negative selection was observed in residues distant from the active sites. The phylodynamics of GII.P4, GII.P7, GII.P16, GII.P21, and GII.P31 indicated that their effective population sizes increased during the period from 2005 to 2016 and the increase in population size was almost consistent with the collection year of these genotypes. These results suggest that the Pro region of the norovirus GII evolved rapidly, but under no positive selection, with a high genetic divergence, similar to that of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) region and the VP1 region of noroviruses.

Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies specific for major capsid VP1 protein of trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus.

Trichodysplasia spinulosa-associated polyomavirus (TSPyV), a newly identified polyomavirus, has been implicated as a causative agent of trychodysplasia spinulosa (TS), a rare proliferative skin disease in severely immunocompromised hosts. Diagnosis using mAbs is a promising tool with high specificity towards the specific antigen. However, thus far, no suitable mAbs for diagnosing TS disease have been identified. In this study, mAbs specific for VP1 of TSPyV were developed and characterized. Wheat germ cell-free synthesized VP1 protein of TSPyV was used to immunize BALB/c mice to generate hybridomas. Screening of the resultant hybridoma clones resulted in selection of five strongly positive clones that produce mAbs that react with the TSPyV-VP1 antigen. Epitope mapping and bioinformatic analysis showed that these mAbs recognized epitopes located within highly conserved C-terminal region of all clinical isolates of TSPyV-VP1. Further, all these mAbs were highly effective for immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation analysis. Three of the five mAbs exhibited no cross-reactivity with VP1 of other related polyomaviruses. In addition, one of our mAbs (#14) provided immunohistochemical staining of skin tissue of TS disease. It can be concluded that three of the mAbs in this panel of anti-VP1 antibodies may provide a useful set of tools for studying TSPyV infection and making the specific diagnosis.

Foodborne Outbreaks Caused by Human Norovirus GII.P17-GII.17-Contaminated Nori, Japan, 2017.

Seven foodborne norovirus outbreaks attributable to the GII.P17-GII.17 strain were reported across Japan in 2017, causing illness in a total of 2,094 persons. Nori (dried shredded seaweed) was implicated in all outbreaks and tested positive for norovirus. Our data highlight the stability of norovirus in dehydrated food products.

Genetic Analysis of Human Norovirus Strains in Japan in 2016-2017.

In the 2016/2017 winter season in Japan, HuNoV GII.P16-GII.2 strains (2016 strains) emerged and caused large outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis. To better understand the outbreaks, we examined the molecular evolution of the VP1 gene and RdRp region in 2016 strains from patients by studying their time-scale evolutionary phylogeny, positive/negative selection, conformational epitopes, and phylodynamics. The time-scale phylogeny suggested that the common ancestors of the 2016 strains VP1 gene and RdRp region diverged in 2006 and 1999, respectively, and that the 2016 strain was the progeny of a pre-2016 GII.2. The evolutionary rates of the VP1 gene and RdRp region were around 10-3 substitutions/site/year. Amino acid substitutions (position 341) in an epitope in the P2 domain of 2016 strains were not found in pre-2016 GII.2 strains. Bayesian skyline plot analyses showed that the effective population size of the VP1 gene in GII.2 strains was almost constant for those 50 years, although the number of patients with NoV GII.2 increased in 2016. The 2016 strain may be involved in future outbreaks in Japan and elsewhere.

Molecular Evolutionary Analyses of the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Region in Norovirus Genogroup II.

Noroviruses are the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans across the world. RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) plays a critical role in the replication of the viral genome. Although there have been some reports on a limited number of genotypes with respect to the norovirus evolution of the RdRp region, no comprehensive molecular evolution examination of the norovirus GII genotype has yet been undertaken. Therefore, we conducted an evolutionary analysis of the 25 genotypes of the norovirus GII RdRp region (full-length), collected globally using different bioinformatics technologies. The time-scaled phylogenetic tree, generated using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, indicated that the common ancestor of GII diverged from GIV around 1443 CE [95% highest posterior density (HPD), 1336-1542]. The GII RdRp region emerged around 1731 CE (95% HPD, 1703-1757), forming three lineages. The evolutionary rate of the RdRp region of the norovirus GII strains was estimated at over 10-3 substitutions/site/year. The evolutionary rates were significantly distinct in each genotype. The composition of the phylogenetic distances differed among the strains for each genotype. Furthermore, we mapped the negative selection sites on the RdRp protein and many of these were predicted in the GII.P4 RdRp proteins. The phylodynamics of GII.P4, GII.P12, GII.P16, and GII.Pe showed that their effective population sizes increased during the period from 2003 to 2014. Our results cumulatively suggest that the RdRp region of the norovirus GII rapidly and uniquely evolved with a high divergence similar to that of the norovirus VP1 gene.

Phylogeny and Immunoreactivity of Norovirus GII.P16-GII.2, Japan, 2016-17.

During the 2016-17 winter season in Japan, human norovirus GII.P16-GII.2 strains (2016 strains) caused large outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that the 2016 strains derived from the GII.2 strains detected during 2010-12. Immunochromatography between 2016 strains and the pre-2016 GII.2 strains showed similar reactivity.

Molecular Evolution of the VP1 Gene in Human Norovirus GII.4 Variants in 1974-2015.

Human norovirus (HuNoV) is a leading cause of viral gastroenteritis worldwide, of which GII.4 is the most predominant genotype. Unlike other genotypes, GII.4 has created various variants that escaped from previously acquired immunity of the host and caused repeated epidemics. However, the molecular evolutionary differences among all GII.4 variants, including recently discovered strains, have not been elucidated. Thus, we conducted a series of bioinformatic analyses using numerous, globally collected, full-length GII.4 major capsid (VP1) gene sequences (466 strains) to compare the evolutionary patterns among GII.4 variants. The time-scaled phylogenetic tree constructed using the Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method showed that the common ancestor of the GII.4 VP1 gene diverged from GII.20 in 1840. The GII.4 genotype emerged in 1932, and then formed seven clusters including 14 known variants after 1980. The evolutionary rate of GII.4 strains was estimated to be 7.68 × 10-3 substitutions/site/year. The evolutionary rates probably differed among variants as well as domains [protruding 1 (P1), shell, and P2 domains]. The Osaka 2007 variant strains probably contained more nucleotide substitutions than any other variant. Few conformational epitopes were located in the shell and P1 domains, although most were contained in the P2 domain, which, as previously established, is associated with attachment to host factors and antigenicity. We found that positive selection sites for the whole GII.4 genotype existed in the shell and P1 domains, while Den Haag 2006b, New Orleans 2009, and Sydney 2012 variants were under positive selection in the P2 domain. Amino acid substitutions overlapped with putative epitopes or were located around the epitopes in the P2 domain. The effective population sizes of the present strains increased stepwise for Den Haag 2006b, New Orleans 2009, and Sydney 2012 variants. These results suggest that HuNoV GII.4 rapidly evolved in a few decades, created various variants, and altered its evolutionary rate and antigenicity.

Calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor accompanied by a dentigerous cyst: A case report.

A calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor (CCOT) is a proliferation of odontogenic epithelium and scattered nests of ghost cells and calcifications that may form the lining of a cyst, or present as a solid mass. It was previously described by Gorlin et al in 1962 as a calcifying odontogenic cyst. Dentigerous cysts are developmental odontogenic jaw cysts, commonly manifesting in the second and third decades of life. The present study reports an asymptomatic case in a 13-year-old boy who was referred to the outpatient clinic of the Osaka Dental University Hospital (Osaka, Japan) for additional investigation of an area of radiolucency in the lower right jaw. X-ray demonstrated a unilocular, well-circumscribed, radiolucent lesion in the mandible, which measured 30×20 mm, with radiopaque structures within it. Enucleation of the lesion with tooth extraction was performed, which histopathologically revealed features of a CCOT and a cyst. To the best of our knowledge, the occurrence of such a lesion has not been previously identified. The present study examined the significance of the case with a brief review of the literature.

Molecular Epidemiology of Rubella Virus Strains Detected Around the Time of the 2012-2013 Epidemic in Japan.

A nationwide rubella epidemic occurred from 2012 to 2013 in Japan, resulting in around 17,000 rubella cases and the birth of 45 infants with congenital rubella syndrome. The aim of this study was to genetically characterize the rubella viruses (RVs) circulating around the time of the epidemic in Japan. In total, 221 RV strains detected from 14 prefectures in Japan between 2010 and 2014 were sequenced in the 739 nucleotide-window region within the E1 gene. The virus strains were chronologically and geographically characterized into groups based on phylogenetic analysis. Among the 221 strains analyzed, 192 (87%), 26 (12%), and 3 (1%) strains were classified into genotypes 2B, 1E, and 1J, respectively. The majority (n = 184) of the genotype 2B strains belonged to lineage 2B-L1 and shared nucleotide homology with the strains detected in Southeast and East Asian countries. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that at least six distinct clusters of RV strains (clusters 1-6) induced outbreaks in Japan between 2010 and 2014. Among them, strains from clusters 3, 4, and 6 circulated almost simultaneously during 2012-2013. The cluster 3 strains circulated locally, whereas strains from cluster 4 spread nationwide. The findings suggest that RVs were introduced into Japan many times from neighboring countries. The 2012-2013 epidemic was a complex of outbreaks induced by at least three clusters of RV strains.

A method for detecting rash and fever illness-associated viruses using multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.

In this study, a new multiplex RT-PCR method for detecting various viral genes in patients with rash and fever illnesses (RFIs) was constructed. New primer sets were designed for detection of herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV1 and 2), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The newly designed and previously reported primer sets were used to detect 13 types of RFI-associated viruses by multiplex RT-PCR assay systems. Moreover, to eliminate non-specific PCR products, a double-stranded specific DNase was used to digest double-stranded DNA derived from the templates in clinical specimens. RFI-associated viruses were detected in 77.0% of the patients (97/126 cases) by the presented method, multiple viruses being identified in 27.8% of the described cases (35/126 cases). Detected viruses and clinical diagnoses were compatible in 32.5% of the patients (41/126 cases). Sensitivity limits for these viruses were estimated to be 101 -103 copies/assay. Furthermore, non-specific PCR products were eliminated by a double-stranded specific DNase with no influence on sensitivity. These results suggest that this method can detect various RFI-associated viruses in clinical specimens with high sensitivity and specificity.

Identification of Datura Species Involved in a Food-Poisoning Case Using LC-MS/MS and DNA Barcording.

A food-poisoning case due to eating the roots of Datura occurred in Kawasaki City, Japan in 2014. The Datura plant was mistakenly collected instead of burdock in a domestic garden. The roots of these plants are quite similar to each other. We presumed that the specimen was the root of Datura, but it was difficult to classify it only from the morphology. Using LC-MS/MS, we detected atropine and scopolamine from the remaining plant specimen. Therefore, we applied the DNA barcoding method. The results showed that the specimen was classified into Solanaceae family, but not Asteraceae family. Thus, the specimen was confirmed to be Datura species based on both chemical and genetic analyses.