ABSTRACT
Objective: To provide the evidence for the identification and genetic diversity of Pinellia ternata by studying cpDNA non-coding sequences of P. ternata and its related species. Methods: Besides P. cordate and P. pedatisecta, 43 P. ternata samples were collected from the main habitats in China. psbK-psbI and atpF-atpH sequences in leaf genome DNA were cloned by PCR. Comparative analysis was carried out by bioinformatics software. Results: The sequence length of atpF-atpH in P. ternata was 337-342 bp and conservative. The numbers of variable sites and parsimony information sites were only 7 and 1, respectively. The genetic distance was 0-0.024.The length of psbK-psbI was 432-435 bp, with 37 variable sites, including 17 information sites, and the genetic distance was 0-0.069.Cluster analysis was not consistent with the phenotype or the geographical distributions. Conclusion: The discrimination of psbK-psbI is better than that of atpF-atpH, and there are more mutation sites in psbK-psbI sequence among species in P. ternata.