Identification of Apiaceae using ITS, ITS2 and psba-trnH barcodes.

Area of Science:

• Botany
• Molecular Biology
• Ecology

Background:

• Apiaceae plants are vital for medicinal, agricultural, and culinary uses.
• Wild Apiaceae diversity in Heilongjiang Province's grasslands remains under-documented.
• Accurate species identification is essential for conservation and utilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically document wild Apiaceae diversity in Heilongjiang Province.
• To evaluate the efficiency of DNA barcoding for Apiaceae species identification.
• To establish a robust DNA barcode reference library for Apiaceae.

Main Methods:

• Collection and identification of 275 Apiaceae specimens from 23 species and 18 genera.
• DNA extraction and sequencing of nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS/ITS2) and chloroplast psbA-trnH regions.
• Sequence alignment, genetic distance analysis, and phylogenetic tree construction for identification efficiency evaluation.

Main Results:

• Internal transcribed spacer (ITS/ITS2) sequences effectively identified 21 out of 23 Apiaceae species.
• The psbA-trnH region showed good performance as a supplementary DNA barcode.
• A high identification efficiency was achieved using combined ITS2 and psbA-trnH markers.

Conclusions:

• DNA barcoding, particularly ITS2, is a reliable method for Apiaceae species identification.
• The combination of ITS2 and psbA-trnH provides a robust approach for barcoding Apiaceae.
• This study contributes valuable data to the Apiaceae DNA barcode database and aids in understanding regional plant diversity.