DNA barcoding in herbal medicine: Retrospective and prospective
Authors
Shilin Chen
aInstitute of Herbgenomics, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China
Xianmei Yin
aInstitute of Herbgenomics, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China
Jianping Han
dInstitute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100193, China
Wei Sun
bKey Laboratory of Beijing for Identification and Safety Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China
Hui Yao
dInstitute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100193, China
Jingyuan Song
dInstitute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100193, China
Xiwen Li
bKey Laboratory of Beijing for Identification and Safety Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China
DNA barcoding has been widely used for herb identification in recent decades, enabling safety and innovation in the field of herbal medicine. In this article, we summarize recent progress in DNA barcoding for herbal medicine to provide ideas for the further development and application of this technology. Most importantly, the standard DNA barcode has been extended in two ways. First, while conventional DNA barcodes have been widely promoted for their versatility in the identification of fresh or well-preserved samples, super-barcodes based on plastid genomes have rapidly developed and have shown advantages in species identification at low taxonomic levels. Second, mini-barcodes are attractive because they perform better in cases of degraded DNA from herbal materials. In addition, some molecular techniques, such as high-throughput sequencing and isothermal amplification, are combined with DNA barcodes for species identification, which has expanded the applications of herb identification based on DNA barcoding and brought about the post-DNA-barcoding era. Furthermore, standard and high-species coverage DNA barcode reference libraries have been constructed to provide reference sequences for species identification, which increases the accuracy and credibility of species discrimination based on DNA barcodes. In summary, DNA barcoding should play a key role in the quality control of traditional herbal medicine and in the international herb trade.
Keywords: Herbal identification, Super-barcode, Mini-barcode, Meta-barcoding, Cutting-edge barcoding
Author Biographies
Shilin Chen, aInstitute of Herbgenomics, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China
bKey Laboratory of Beijing for Identification and Safety Evaluation of Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China
Xianmei Yin, aInstitute of Herbgenomics, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China
cState Key Laboratory of Southwestern Chinese Medicine Resources, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 611137, China
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