Plant anatomy and the DNA barcode for identification of Cam Thao Da Bia

Abstract

Cam Thao Da Bia (CTDB) Jasminanthes tuyetanhiae T.B.Tran & Rodda, Apocynaceae is an endemic plant of the Da Bia mountainous region in Phu Yen province. The stems and roots of this plant with sweet taste are used as a substitution for licorice in traditional medicine. With the aim of developing this plant, the plant anatomy characteristics and the sequence of ITS and rbcL genes were analysed for establishing a method of identification of this medicinal plant. CTDB has the plant anatomy characteristics of the Apocynaceae family such as non-articulated laticifer, internal phloem, and a bunch of cellulose wall sclerenchyma fibers. The sequence of ITS1-5.8S rRNA-ITS2 and rbcL of CTDB young leaves were submitted in GenBank with code MT084410.1 and MT089916, respectively, in comparison with those of Jasminanthes mucronata (Blanco) W.D. Stevens & P.T. L, the similarity were 92.69 and 100%, respectively. This is the first time the gene sequence of this plant has been presented. The section ITS1-5.8S rRNA-ITS2 and rbcL offer great potential for establishing the DNA barcode to identify CTDB.