Abstract
ABSTRACTCannabis sativa L. has a long history of cultivation as food, fibre, medicine and recreational drugs. Production of high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) plants for narcotic use (drug type) is illegal and under control in most countries. In contrast, cultivation of low THC plants (fibre type, also known as ‘industrial hemp’) is promoted in many countries. The determination of C. sativa L. chemotypes is based on the major cannabinoids content, THC, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN). The THC:CBD content ratio is a candidate marker for differentiation of the fibre and drug type of cannabis. The ability to accurately characterize the cannabinoid chemical phenotype (chemotype) is crucial for the development of specific C. sativa cultivars for pharmacological, hemp fibre or seed end-use. High resolution melting (HRM) curve analysis is used as a rapid and effective mechanism for detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in plants. In this report, we developed a HRM protocol for differentiation of drug and non-drug cannabis plants. According to the results, HRM analysis based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms in THCAS gene is an accurate method to differentiate the drug type of cannabis which could be used for the control of legal and illegal cannabis cultivation.
Highlights
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) has a long history of cultivation as a food, hemp fibre, seed and seed oil; in addition, the dried flowering tops and leaves are used for medicinal purposes and as a drug [1,2]
A wild-type accession was categorized into the drug group, and four drug-labelled accessions number 37, 48, 55 and 56 were grouped with fibre accessions based on THCAS gene scanning (Figure 3)
The cannabis accessions used in this study were initially characterized into drug and non-drug types based on their THC:CBD ratio, which we know is not the only crucial index to distinguish cannabis types because of many copy number variations of THCAS genes in the genome, high similarity between THCAS and CBDAS genes and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated to active and inactive forms of THCAS
Summary
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) has a long history of cultivation as a food, hemp fibre, seed and seed oil; in addition, the dried flowering tops and leaves are used for medicinal purposes and as a drug [1,2]. The biosynthetic pathways of different cannabinoids have been clarified in previous studies [5,6]. According to these studies, specific synthase enzymes catalyse the synthesis of different cannabinoids. Due to variation in cannabinoids content and composition among cannabis plants, three main chemotypes are recognized based on cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) composition: chemotype I (THCA:CBDA > 1), chemotype II (THCA:CBDA 1) and chemotype III (THCA:CBDA < 1) [8], showing a codominant model for THCA and CBDA synthase gene (THCAS, CBDAS) inheritance [4,9,10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call