Preprint / Version 1

Phylogenies reveal predictive power of traditional medicine in bioprospecting

Authors

  • C Saslis-Lagoudakis aSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6BX, United Kingdom;
  • Vincent Savolainen bImperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom;
  • Elizabeth Williamson dSchool of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom;
  • Félix Forest cJodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, United Kingdom;
  • Steven Wagstaff eAllan Herbarium, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand;
  • Sushim Baral fDepartment of Plant Resources, Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Thapathali, Kathmandu, GPO 3708, Nepal; and
  • Mark Watson gRoyal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, United Kingdom
  • Colin Pendry gRoyal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, United Kingdom
  • Julie Hawkins aSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6BX, United Kingdom;

Keywords:

ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, herbal medicine, phylogeny, systematics

Abstract

There is controversy about whether traditional medicine can guide drug discovery, and investment in bioprospecting informed by ethnobotanical data has fluctuated. One view is that traditionally used medicinal plants are not necessarily efficacious and there are no robust methods for distinguishing those which are most likely to be bioactive when selecting species for further testing. Here, we reconstruct a genus-level molecular phylogenetic tree representing the 20,000 species found in the floras of three disparate biodiversity hotspots: Nepal, New Zealand, and the Cape of South Africa. Borrowing phylogenetic methods from community ecology, we reveal significant clustering of the 1,500 traditionally used species, and provide a direct measure of the relatedness of the three medicinal floras. We demonstrate shared phylogenetic patterns across the floras: related plants from these regions are used to treat medical conditions in the same therapeutic areas. This finding strongly indicates independent discovery of plant efficacy, an interpretation corroborated by the presence of a significantly greater proportion of known bioactive species in these plant groups than in random samples. We conclude that phylogenetic cross-cultural comparisons can focus screening efforts on a subset of traditionally used plants that are richer in bioactive compounds, and could revitalize the use of traditional knowledge in bioprospecting. Keywords: ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, herbal medicine, phylogeny, systematics

Author Biographies

C Saslis-Lagoudakis, aSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6BX, United Kingdom;

cJodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, United Kingdom;

Vincent Savolainen, bImperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom;

cJodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, United Kingdom;

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