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Planta Med 1999; 65(7): 648-650
DOI: 10.1055/s-1999-14091
Original Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Differentiation of Medicinal Codonopsis Species from Adulterants by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism

Rong-Zhao Fu1, 3 , Jun Wang1, 3 , Yan-Bo Zhang3, 4 , Zeng-Tao Wang4 , Paul Pui-Hay But2, 3,, Ning Li5 , Pang-Chui Shaw1, 3
  • 1 Department of Biochemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China
  • 2 Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China
  • 3 Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China
  • 4 Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Chinese Materia Medica, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
  • 5 Department of Biology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowleon, Hong Kong, China
Further Information

Publication History

September 30, 1998

April 6, 1999

Publication Date:
31 December 1999 (online)

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Abstract

DNA sequence analysis of rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were exploited for their applications in differentiating medicinal species Codonopsis pilosula, C. tangshen, C. modesta, and C. nervosa var. macrantha, from two related adulterants Campanumoea javania and Platycodon grandiflorus. The data demonstrated that the rDNA ITSI and ITSII sequences of the four Codonopsis are highly homologous but not identical, and are significantly different from those of the two adulterants. The sequence difference allows effective and reliable differentiation of Codonopsis from the adulterants by PCR-RFLP.

Key words:

Chinese medicine - Campanulaceae - Campanumoea javania - Codonopsis - C. modesta - C. pilosula - C. tangshen - Platycodon grandiflorus - Dangshen - Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) - PCR - rDNA - RFLP