IDENTIFICATION OF CHINESE CRUDE DRUG SNAKE GALLBLADDER BY DNA MOLECULAR MARKER / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

AIM　It is difficult to identify the Chinese crude drug snake gallbladder accurately by morphological and microscopical characteristics or chemical components only. In order to solve the problem, the technique based on DNA molecular marker was introduced into the authentication of snake gallbladder. METHODS　DNA templates were extracted from the membrane or the bile of snake gallbladder, and also from the muscle of the original animal Elaphe schrenckii. About 400 bp DNA fragments of 12S rRNA gene were amplified from the templates and sequenced subsequently. RESULTS　Enough amounts of DNA templates could be extracted from a bit of membrane or bile of snake gallbladder. The sequence of amplicons from the membrane, bile and muscle of the same individual were identical completely. CONCLUSION　The technique of DNA molecular marker could be used for the authentication of snake gallbladder and bile. The results indicate that the technique could be used for the identification of crude drugs from other animal secretion. DNA sequence analysis also demonstrated that the origins of commercial snake gallbladder were complicated and more efficient quality control was necessary for supervising the crude drug in the market.