Paper Details

PJB-2025-1554

Phylogenetic analysis and identification of the medicinal plant Asparagus cochinchinensis and related species (Asparagaceae) using DNA barcoding markers

Hui Wang, Muhammad Idrees, Meng Li, Mushtaq Ahmad, Wu Li, Fajun Chen, Xin Liu, Qijun Liu and Shazia Sultana
Abstract

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The goal is to identify Asparagus cochinenchinensis, a significant medicinal plant, and related species using a universal DNA barcode. We evaluated the potential of three widely used regions-ITS, trnH-psbA, and trnD-trnF, as candidate DNA barcodes to distinguish A. cochinchinesis from closely related species and to assess the phylogenetic relationships among 26 accessions representing 10 Asparagus species. The analysis included data on the success rate of PCR amplification, sequence alignment, identification efficiency, genetic distance between and within specific species, data distribution, DNA barcoding gap, and the conditions for maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees condition were all included in the analysis. In the barcoding of asparagus, ITS yielded the best results out of the three loci tested and that the combination of ITS+trnD-trnF+trnH-psbA shows significant potential as a robust, conventional DNA barcode for Asparagus identification. Additionally, the ITS2 secondary structure provides another approach for identifying Asparagus species. These results might validate these methods and aid in accurate species identification for Asparagus medicinal plants

To Cite this article: Wang, H., M. Idrees, M. Li, M. Ahmad, W. Li, F. Chen, X. Liu, Q. Liu and S. Sultana. 2025. Phylogenetic analysis and identification of the medicinal plant Asparagus cochinchinensis and related species (Asparagaceae) using DNA barcoding markers. Pak. J. Bot., 57(6): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2025-6(43)  
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