[Microscopic and molecular identification of pine needles]

Area of Science:

• Botany
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Accurate identification of plant species is crucial for quality control and classification.
• Pine needles are used in traditional medicine and industry, necessitating reliable identification methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate pine needles from various origins using microscopic and molecular techniques.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of specific DNA markers for pine species identification.

Main Methods:

• Morphological and microscopic examination of pine needles from three Pinus species.
• DNA extraction, PCR amplification, and sequencing of ITS2 and rbcL regions.
• Phylogenetic analysis using Kimura-2-Parameter distances and neighbor-joining (NJ) method.

Main Results:

• Significant morphological and microscopic differences were observed among the three pine needle types.
• The rbcL DNA marker demonstrated clear separation between intraspecific and interspecific genetic distances.
• NJ tree analysis based on rbcL successfully clustered the three pine needle species distinctly.

Conclusions:

• Microscopic and molecular identification provides accurate and rapid differentiation of pine needles.
• The rbcL marker is a reliable DNA barcode for distinguishing Pinus species.
• This study establishes a basis for quality assessment and classification of pine needles.