Unidentifiable by morphology: DNA barcoding of plant material in local markets in Iran

PLoS One. 2017 Apr 18;12(4):e0175722. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175722. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Local markets provide a rapid insight into the medicinal plants growing in a region as well as local traditional health concerns. Identification of market plant material can be challenging as plants are often sold in dried or processed forms. In this study, three approaches of DNA barcoding-based molecular identification of market samples are evaluated, two objective sequence matching approaches and an integrative approach that coalesces sequence matching with a priori and a posteriori data from other markers, morphology, ethnoclassification and species distribution. Plant samples from markets and herbal shops were identified using morphology, descriptions of local use, and vernacular names with relevant floras and pharmacopoeias. DNA barcoding was used for identification of samples that could not be identified to species level using morphology. Two methods based on BLAST similarity-based identification, were compared with an integrative identification approach. Integrative identification combining the optimized similarity-based approach with a priori and a posteriori information resulted in a 1.67, 1.95 and 2.00 fold increase for ITS, trnL-F spacer, and both combined, respectively. DNA barcoding of traded plant material requires objective strategies to include data from multiple markers, morphology, and traditional knowledge to optimize species level identification success.

MeSH terms

  • Amaranthus
  • Cell Nucleus / genetics
  • DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / methods*
  • DNA, Chloroplast / chemistry
  • DNA, Chloroplast / genetics
  • DNA, Plant / chemistry
  • DNA, Plant / genetics*
  • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / chemistry
  • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / genetics
  • Plants, Medicinal / anatomy & histology*
  • Plants, Medicinal / classification
  • Plants, Medicinal / genetics*
  • RNA, Transfer / genetics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • DNA, Chloroplast
  • DNA, Plant
  • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
  • RNA, Transfer

Grants and funding

The research was supported by a grant to AG from the International Foundation for Science, Sweden (http://www.ifs.se/) and a grant to HdB from Carl Tryggers Foundation, Sweden (http://www.carltryggersstiftelse.se/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.