Resumen Introducción: Verificación genética del arbusto Eclipta prostrate (Asteraceae) (Para la identificación y verificación genética rápida y precisa de organismos vivos, el uso de fragmentos de ADN polimórfico amplificado aleatoriamente (RAPD) mejorado de marcadores de región amplificada caracterizada por secuencia (SCAR) es una técnica genética importante. Objetivo: Este estudio tuvo como objetivo desarrollar marcadores SCAR para la hierba perenne Eclipta postrate (E. postrate). Métodos: En este estudio os fragmentos RAPD mediante amplificación RAPD mejorada con los cebadores A11 y N-7 para E. postrate se clonaron en el vector pGEX-T, y la amplificación por PCR identificó los clones positivos. Después de la digestión enzimática, se realizó una secuenciación Sanger. Resultados: Se desarrollaron dos marcadores SCAR, muy específicos para E. postrate, que no se encuentran en Penthorum chinense Pursh (P. chinense). La búsqueda de las secuencias de nucleótidos con BLAST en GenBank mostró que son nuevos en E. postrate, por lo que fueron depositados en Genbank con los números de acceso: KX671034 y KX671035. Los marcadores no mostraron ninguna identidad a otras especies. Conclusiones: En este estudio se desarrollaron dos marcadores SCAR específicos para distinguir e identificar genéticamente la especie de planta E. postrate de la hierba P. chinense y otras.

Abstract Introduction: For the rapid and accurate genetic identification and authentication of living organisms, improved random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragment based development of sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers is an important genetic technique. Objective: This study aimed to develop SCAR markers for perennial herb Eclipta prostrate (E. prostrate). Methods: Here the RAPD fragments by improved RAPD amplification with primers A11 and N-7 for E. prostrate were cloned into pGEX-T vector, and PCR amplification identified the positive clones. After the enzymatic digestion, they were sequenced with Sanger sequencing. Results: Two SCAR markers were developed, which were very specific to E. prostrate, not found in Penthorum chinense Pursh(P. chinense). The nucleotide sequence search by BLAST GenBank database showed that they are novel in E. prostrate, therefore they were deposited in Genbank with accession number KX671034, KX671035. The markers did not show any identity to other species. Conclusions: Thus, in this study two specific SCAR markers were developed for genetically distinguishing and identifying the plant species E. prostrate from herb P. chinense and others.

Background Angelica sinensis is a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plant. We aimed to assess the genetic diversity and relationships in A. sinensis cultivars collected from different locations of China and also some other Angelica species. Results We employed an improved random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique for the amplification of DNA materials from ten Angelica cultivars, and the results were verified by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis. Twenty six RAPD primers were used for RAPD, and the amplified bands were found highly polymorphic (96%). Each primer amplified 8-14 bands with an average of 10.25. The cluster dendrogram showed that the similarity coefficients ranged from 0.41 to 0.92. The similarity coefficients were higher among different cultivars of A. sinensis, and lower among different species. Twenty ISSR primers were used for the amplification, and each primer generated 6-10 bands with an average of 7.2 bands per primer. The cluster dendrogram showed that the similarity coefficients ranged from 0.35 to 0.89. Conclusions This study genetically characterized the Angelica species, which might have a significant contribution to the genetic and ecological conservation of this important medicinal plant. Also, this study indicates that the improved RAPD and ISSR analyses are important and potent molecular tools for the study of genetic diversity and authentication of organisms.

Background Analysis of genetic diversity is important for the authentication of a species. Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a subtropical evergreen tree. Recently, L. chinensis has been characterized by an improved random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis. The goal of this study was to develop sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers from the improved RAPD fragments for the genetic analysis of L. chinensis. Results The improved RAPD fragments from L. chinensis were cloned, sequenced and converted into stable SCAR markers. Sequencing of three cloned RAPD fragments revealed that the clone L7-16 consisted of 222 nucleotides (GenBank accession number KM235222), clone L9-6 consisted of 648 nucleotides (GenBank accession number KM235223), and clone L11-26 consisted of 369 nucleotides (GenBank accession number KM235224). Then, specific primers for SCAR markers L7-16, L9-6, and L11-26 were designed and synthesized. PCR amplification was performed using DNA templates from 24 different samples, including 6 samples of L. chinensis and other plants. The SCAR marker L9-6 was specific for all of the L. chinensis samples, the SCAR marker L11-26 specific for five L. chinensis samples, and the SCAR marker L7-16 only specific for the samples from Luzhou. Conclusions This study developed stable SCAR markers for the identification of L. chinensis by the cloning of the improved RAPD fragments. Combining RAPD and SCAR markers provides a simple and reliable tool for the genetic characterization of plant species.

La diversidad genética dentro de una especie es una característica común, que juega un papel vital en su supervivencia y adaptabilidad, y es importante para la identificación y la autenticación de una especie. Lonicera japonica es una planta medicinal utilizada tradicionalmente, que han sido recientemente caracterizada genéticamente por amplificación aleatoria mejorada de ADN polimórfico (RAPD). En este estudio, los marcadores moleculares basados en estos fragmentos de RAPD se han desarrollado para identificar una variedad específica de L. japonica. Los ADN se extrajeron de las hojas jóvenes frescas de diferentes muestras de L. japonica recogidas de Shenzhen, Yichang, Leshan, Emei y Loudi, China. Los materiales de ADN fueron amplificados utilizando el RAPD PCR mejorado. Diferentes bandas RAPD fueron extraídas, clonadas y desarrolladas para las regiones amplificadas de secuencia conocida (SCAR) con marcado- res de diferentes especies. Dos marcadores SCAR, JYH3-3 y JYH4-3, se clonaron con éxito de los RAPD mejorados. El marcador SCAR JYH3-3 se encontró específico para todas las muestras de L. japonica recolectadas en las diferentes regiones, mientras que el otro marcador JYH4-3 era estrictamente específico para la muestra de Shenzhen de la provincia de Guangdong, que está geográficamente distante de Hubei, Sichuan y Provincias Hunan (fuente de otras muestras de L. japonica). Se encontró que JYH3-3 es un marcador molecular específico para la identificación de L. japonica, mientras que JYH4-3 se encontró como marcador molecular estrictamente específico para la muestra de Shenzhen. Los marcadores SCAR desarrollados podrían servir como marcadores moleculares más específicos para la autenticación de la variedad L. japonica. La combi- nación de RAPD mejorado y el desarrollo del marcador SCAR han dado como resultado herramientas útiles para el estudio de la variedad genética de cualquier organismo, que hemos aplicado con éxito en L. japonica.

Genetic diversity within a species is a common feature, which plays a vital role in its survival and adaptability, and is important for the identification and authentication of a species. Lonicera japonica is a traditionally used medicinal plant, which have been recently genetically characterized by an improved ran- dom amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. In this study, the molecular markers on the basis of these RAPD fragments have been developed to identify specific L. japonica variety. The DNAs were extracted from fresh young leaves of different samples of L. japonica collected from Shenzhen, Yichang, Leshan, Emei and Loudi, China. The DNA materials were amplified using improved RAPD PCR. Different RAPD bands were excised, cloned and developed for stable sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers with differ- ent species. Two SCAR markers, JYH3-3 and JYH4-3, have been successfully cloned from improved RAPD fragments. The SCAR marker JYH3-3 was found specific for all of the L. japonica samples collected from the different regions, and another marker JYH 4-3 was strictly specific to the Shenzhen sample from Guangdong province, which is geographically distant from Hubei, Sichuan and Hunan Provinces (source of other L. japonica samples). The marker JYH3-3 was found as specific molecular marker for the identification of L. japonica, while JYH4-3 was found as molecular marker strictly specific for the Shenzhen sample. The developed SCAR mark- ers might serve as more specific molecular markers for L. japonica variety authentication. The combination of improved RAPD analysis and SCAR marker development have resulted useful tools to study the genetic variety of any organism, which we have successfully applied here in L. japonica.