BOKP: A DNA Barcode Reference Library for Monitoring Herbal Drugs in the Korean Pharmacopeia.

Jinxin Liu,Wei Sun,Linchun Shi,Shilin Chen,Jianping Han,Xia Liu,Jingyuan Song,Dianyun Hou,Hui Yao,Mingyue Li

doi:10.3389/fphar.2017.00931

Abstract

Herbal drug authentication is an important task in traditional medicine; however, it is challenged by the limitations of traditional authentication methods and the lack of trained experts. DNA barcoding is conspicuous in almost all areas of the biological sciences and has already been added to the British pharmacopeia and Chinese pharmacopeia for routine herbal drug authentication. However, DNA barcoding for the Korean pharmacopeia still requires significant improvements. Here, we present a DNA barcode reference library for herbal drugs in the Korean pharmacopeia and developed a species identification engine named KP-IDE to facilitate the adoption of this DNA reference library for the herbal drug authentication. Using taxonomy records, specimen records, sequence records, and reference records, KP-IDE can identify an unknown specimen. Currently, there are 6,777 taxonomy records, 1,054 specimen records, 30,744 sequence records (ITS2 and psbA-trnH) and 285 reference records. Moreover, 27 herbal drug materials were collected from the Seoul Yangnyeongsi herbal medicine market to give an example for real herbal drugs authentications. Our study demonstrates the prospects of the DNA barcode reference library for the Korean pharmacopeia and provides future directions for the use of DNA barcoding for authenticating herbal drugs listed in other modern pharmacopeias.

Highlights

Traditional Korean medicine (TKM), referred to as traditional oriental medicine or Eastern medicine, originated during prehistoric times and has been widely used in Korea for thousands of years (Kim et al, 2005)
For the remaining herbal drugs derived from unambiguous species, we collected their specific origins according to the Korean pharmacopeia monographs
Sequence records, and reference records are closely linked to the original nomenclature of the herbal drugs, and all records must map onto the origin’s taxonomy entry at or below the species level

Summary

Introduction

Traditional Korean medicine (TKM), referred to as traditional oriental medicine or Eastern medicine, originated during prehistoric times and has been widely used in Korea for thousands of years (Kim et al, 2005). TKM has been deeply influenced by traditional Chinese medicine since the periods of Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo. TKM flourished during the period of Joseon in which the three Korean medical classics Hyangyak Jipseongbang, Uibang Yuchwi, and Dongeui Bogam were completed and published. TKM gradually began to accumulate distinctive features based on the distinctive environmental, cultural, social, and political situations in Korea (Cha et al, 2007). At the beginning of the nineteenth century, TKM adopted Chinese medical theories (such as yin yang and the five phases) and introduced a new frontier with its Sasang typology, which classified individuals into the Tae-Yang, So-Yang, Tae-Eum, and So-Eum types. The Sasang typology adopts the philosophy that an individual patient’s medical treatment should be based on

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Conclusion