Identification of Geranii herbae using ITS2 sequence / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To provide the molecular basis for standard medicine market management, a new method to identify multi-origin traditional Chinese medicine Geranii herba was established by ITS2 sequence analysis. METHODS: As a prelude to species identification, Erodium stephaniahum willd., Geranium carolinianum L., Geranium wilfordii Maxim., together with their relatives adulterants, were sampled. A reference ITS2 sequence library was developed, including 82 ITS2 sequences of 28 species download from GenBank. Based on the intra-species, inter-species divergence, variable sites and the neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree observed, a molecular identification method was established to the multi-origin herbs Geranium using ITS2 sequence. RESULTS: The NJ trees showed three origin species formed one monophyletic clade respectively; in addition any one of multi-origin herbs Geranium and its relatives adulterants could be distinguished clearly. Using this method, 18 random copies of Geranium herb collected from market were analyzed, 16 of which are genuine, 2 as adulterants. CONCLUSION: Therefore ITS2 sequence is suitable to be as a barcode to identify multi-origin herbs Geranium and their relatives adulterants.