Specific DNA barcodes, germplasm resources, and genetic diversity of Eleutherococcus senticosus / 中国中药杂志

Eleutherococcus senticosus is one of the Dao-di herbs in northeast China. In this study, the chloroplast genomes of three E. senticosus samples from different genuine producing areas were sequenced and then used for the screening of specific DNA barcodes. The germplasm resources and genetic diversity of E. senticosus were analyzed basing on the specific DNA barcodes. The chloroplast genomes of E. senticosus from different genuine producing areas showed the total length of 156 779-156 781 bp and a typical tetrad structure. Each of the chloroplast genomes carried 132 genes, including 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNAs, and 8 rRNAs. The chloroplast genomes were relatively conserved. Sequence analysis of the three chloroplast genomes indicated that atpI, ndhA, ycf1, atpB-rbcL, ndhF-rpl32, petA-psbJ, psbM-psbD, and rps16-psbK can be used as specific DNA barcodes of E. senticosus. In this study, we selected atpI and atpB-rbcL which were 700-800 bp and easy to be amplified for the identification of 184 E. senticosus samples from 13 genuine producing areas. The results demonstrated that 9 and 10 genotypes were identified based on atpI and atpB-rbcL sequences, respectively. Furthermore, the two barcodes identified 23 genotypes which were named H1-H23. The haplotype with the highest proportion and widest distribution was H10, followed by H2. The haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity were 0.94 and 1.82×10~(-3), respectively, suggesting the high genetic diversity of E. senticosus. The results of the median-joining network analysis showed that the 23 genotypes could be classified into 4 categories. H2 was the oldest haplotype, and it served as the center of the network characterized by starlike radiation, which suggested that population expansion of E. senticosus occurred in the genuine producing areas. This study lays a foundation for the research on the genetic quality and chloroplast genetic engineering of E. senticosus and further research on the genetic mechanism of its population, providing new ideas for studying the genetic evolution of E. senticosus.

Large-scale advances in SSR markers with high-throughput sequencing in Euphorbia fischeriana Steud

BACKGROUND: Euphorbia fischeriana Steud is a very important medicinal herb and has significant medical value for healing cancer, edema and tuberculosis in China. The lack of molecular markers for Euphorbia fischeriana Steud is a dominant barrier to genetic research. For the purpose of developing many simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers, we completed transcriptome analysis with the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. RESULTS: Approximately 9.1 million clean reads were acquired and then assembled into approximately 186.3 thousand nonredundant unigenes, 53,146 of which were SSR-containing unigenes. A total of 76,193 SSR loci were identified. Of these SSR loci, 28,491 were detected at the terminal position of ESTs, which made it difficult to design SSR primers for these SSR-containing sequences, and the residual SSRs were thus used to design primer pairs. Analyzing the results of these markers revealed that the mononucleotide motif A/T (44,067, 57.83% of all SSRs) was the most abundant, followed by the dinucleotide type AG/CT (9430, 12.38%). Using 100 randomly selected primer pairs, 77 primers were successfully amplified in Euphorbia fischeriana Steud, and 79 were successfully amplified in three other related species. The markers developed displayed relatively high quality and cross-species transferability. CONCLUSIONS: The large number of EST-SSRs exploited successfully in Euphorbia fischeriana Steud for the first time could provide genetic information for research on linkage maps, variety identification, genetic diversity analysis, and molecular marker-assisted breeding.

Screening and diversity of resistance germplasm of Dendrobium officinale by CDDP markers / 中草药

Objective Conserved DNA-Derived Polymorphism (CDDP) markers were used in the study of the genetic diversity of 43 Dendrobium officinale and preliminary resistance screening, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the screening of D. officinale and the selection of fine varieties. Methods A total of 21 CDDP primers were used to amplify the genomic DNA of the test material with clear and polymorphic primers. Results Sixteen primers generated 151 bands, of which 144 (95.7%) were polymorphic. The results of data analysis on three population showed that the percentage of polymorphic locus (PPL) were between 65.56% and 82.12%, coefficient of genetic differentiation among natural populations (Gst) was 0.110 2, and the total gene flow (Nm) was 4.035 4. Indicating that anthropogenic factors may also promote the genetic diversity of D. officinale. Conclusion The genetic diversity of D. officinale was rich, and the results showed that there were eight plants with potentially good resistance among 43 materials.

Phylogenetic and genetic diversity analysis in Leptospira species based on the sequence homology pattern of 16S rRNA gene.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis, caused by pathogenic spirochete which belongs to the genus Leptospira. It exists in diverse ecological habitats and affects almost all the mammals including humans. Several online databases like NCBI etc will provide the complete genomic sequence data of various Leptospira species. However, the Phylogenetic and genetic diversity Analysis in Leptospira species based on 16S rRNA gene has not studied in detail. Therefore the present study was conducted. Sequences of various species related to genus Leptospira obtained from the NCBI database etc and aligned (CLUSTAL_X). Two Phylogenetic trees were constructed (MEGA-5) in which the first one is related to various serovars of L. interrogans and the other is related to various species of Leptospira. The Phylogenetic trees revealed the relationship and genetic diversity of various serovars of L. interrogans and the other Leptospira species, with their nearest phylogenetic relatives. In the first tree, two major clades were observed which were named as A and B, whereas in the second tree, three major clades were observed and named as A, B and C respectively. Aquifex pyrophilus strain has been used for out grouping in both the trees. The genetic distance between the species in the phylogenetic tree is presented by a bar which represents 0.5 nucleotide substitutions per alignment position in the 16S rRNA gene sequence among the various serovars of L. interrogans while 0.05 nucleotide substitutions in case of various species related to the genus Leptospira. Thus, the findings from the above study confirm that the genus Leptospira exhibits genetic diversity in the 16S rRNA gene.