Abstract
BackgroundSelaginellaceae is a family of nonseed plants with special evolutionary significance. Plants of the family Selaginellaceae are similarly shaped and easily confused, complicating identification via traditional methods. This study explored, for the first time, the use of the DNA barcode ITS2 to identify medicinal plants of the Selaginellaceae family.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn our study, 103 samples were collected from the main distribution areas in China; these samples represented 34 species and contained almost all of the medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae. The ITS2 region of the genome was amplified from these samples and sequenced using universal primers and reaction conditions. The success rates of the PCR amplification and sequencing were 100%. There was significant divergence between the interspecific and intraspecific genetic distances of the ITS2 regions, while the presence of a barcoding gap was obvious. Using the BLAST1 and nearest distance methods, our results proved that the ITS2 regions could successfully identify the species of all Selaginellaceae samples examined. In addition, the secondary structures of ITS2 in the helical regions displayed clear differences in stem loop number, size, position, and screw angle among the medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae. Furthermore, cluster analysis using the ITS2 barcode supported the relationship between the species of Selaginellaceae established by traditional morphological methods.ConclusionThe ITS2 barcode can effectively identify medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae. The results provide a scientific basis for the precise identification of plants of the family Selaginellaceae and the reasonable development of these resources. This study may broaden the application of DNA barcoding in the medicinal plant field and benefit phylogenetic investigations.
Highlights
The Selaginellaceae family belongs to class Lycopodiopsida in the Pteridophyta division; this family has only one genus, Selaginella, which diverged from Euphyllophyta [1]
Our study indicated that the ITS2 region could be used as an effective barcode for the identification of medicinal plants in Selaginellaceae
The ITS2 region was confirmed as a novel barcode for identifying medicinal plant species [20,24,27,40], but this study expanded the application of the ITS2 region to the medicinal plant field
Summary
The Selaginellaceae family belongs to class Lycopodiopsida in the Pteridophyta division; this family has only one genus, Selaginella (spikemoss), which diverged from Euphyllophyta [1]. The medicinal plants of Selaginellaceae have the detoxification, hemostatic, and blood circulation-promoting activities traditionally associated with medicinal plants [5], and have antitumor [6], antibacterial [7], hypoglycemic [8], and immunoregulatory functions [9]. These plants are of increasing interest to domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies as well as the botany field in general. Plants of the Selaginellaceae family usually differ in chemical components and have different activities These differences could affect the safety and clinical efficacy of the resulting medicines. This study explored, for the first time, the use of the DNA barcode ITS2 to identify medicinal plants of the Selaginellaceae family
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