Philippine E-Journals

Suitability of ITS2, nad1 and ycf1b as DNA Barcodes for the Ten Medicinal Plants of the Philippines

Levi Letlet H. Larcia | Joseph Christian M. Manzano | Kyle Maleen O. Sagulili | Jerica Margarita G. Ibanez | Ciara Christianne Y. Lim | Joanne Marie M. Del Rosario | Paul Benedic U. Salvador | Laarni G. Corales | Leslie Michelle M. Dalmacio

 

Abstract:

The Department of Health had listed ten herbal medicines commonly used in the Philippines for different ailments referred to as “Sampung Halamang Gamot” or 10HG1. Ensuring proper identification of these herbal medicines is important to prevent numerous adverse reactions. DNA barcoding, a taxonomic method that uses a short genetic marker in an organism's DNA to identify it as belonging to a particular species2, can be used to augment the current methods of identification. ITS2, nad1, and ycf1b are three of the most commonly used genetic loci for DNA barcoding3,4. This study determined the suitability of these genetic markers as DNA barcodes for the identification of 10HG by comparing their PCR success rate, sequence quality, and discriminatory power. For PCR success rate, the 10 HG gave 100%, 80%, and 40% amplification using ITS2, ycf1b, and nad1, respectively. With regard to the sequence quality, high-quality sequences were given by A. sativum, P.guajava, Q. indica, and E.microphylla using ITS2 while high-quality sequences were given by C. alata, M. charantia, P. guajava, V. negundo, and Q. indica using ycf1b. Finally, for the discriminatory power, six out of the 10 HG gave species-level discrimination using ITS2 and two out of the ten for ycf1b. Nad1 data for sequence quality and discriminatory power was inconclusive. From the data gathered, it can be inferred that ITS2 is the most suitable DNA barcode for the 10HG. The utilization of ITS2 as a standard DNA barcode for 10HG is supported by the study of Chen et al.5 wherein they concluded that the ITS2 region can be potentially used as a standard DNA barcode to identify medicinal plants and their closely related species. For the suitability of nad1 and ycf1b as 10HG DNA barcodes, however, further studies are recommended to make a conclusion.