Research progress in microevolutionary process of excellent traits and quality of Dao-di herbs / 中国中药杂志

Dao-di herbs are the treasure of Chinese materia medica and one of the characteristic research objects of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). Probing into the microevolution of Dao-di herbs can help to reveal their biological essence and quality formation mechanisms. The progress in molecular biology and omics provides the possibility to elucidate the phylogenetic and quality forming characteristics of Dao-di herbs at the molecular level. In particular, genomics serves as a powerful tool to decipher the genetic origins of Dao-di herbs, and molecular markers have been widely used in the research on the genetic diversity and population structure of Dao-di herbs. Focusing on the excellent traits and quality of Dao-di herbs, this paper reviews the studies about the microevolution process of quality formation mechanisms of Dao-di herbs with the application of molecular markers and omics, aiming to underpin the protection and utilization of TCM resources.

Thoughts of omics research on quality formation in Dao-di herbs / 中国中药杂志

Dao-di herbs have been recognized as "quality models" with a firmly stable status. The formation of Dao-di herbs quality is involved from the genetic inheritance on the molecular level to the metabolic phenotype of final products, and the full material-based biosynthetic pathway remains unknown. In recent years, an increasing variety of omics technologies has provided new methods and ideas for the analysis of complex life systems and are suitable for explanation of quality formation in Dao-di herbs as well. In order to alleviate the scarcity of natural resources and offer scientific guidance of transplanting varieties, achievements of omics in the aspects of Dao-di herbs from genetics to phenotyping, the biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites, the interaction with human body and the new methods of quality evaluation have been summarized. It will be a fundamental work for protection and utilization of Chinese medicine resources.