Identification of Valeriana fauriei and other Eurasian medicinal valerian by DNA polymorphisms in psbA–trnH intergenic spacer sequences in chloroplast DNA

In order to differentiate among Valeriana fauriei Briq. and other Eurasian medicinal valerian ( V . dioica L., V . hardwickii Wall., V . jatamansi Jones, and V . officinalis L.), we attempted to establish DNA markers. DNA sequences for the psb A– trn H intergenic spacer region of chloroplast DNA ( psb A– trn H) and 18S ribosomal RNA, internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), 5.8S ribosomal RNA, internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2), and 28S ribosomal RNA of nuclear DNA in V. fauriei and other Eurasian medicinal valerian were compared. Using partial sequences of psb A– trn H (nucleotide positions 1–75 from the 5′ end of the intergenic spacer region), V. fauriei and other Eurasian medicinal valerian could be correctly identified to the species level. In addition, the partial sequences of psb A– trn H in V. fauriei contained five different haplotypes, and it was possible to distinguish the origins of valerian from Japan and Eurasia (China and Korea). On the other hand, individuals had heterogeneous sequences of ITS1 and ITS2, making it impossible to use direct sequencing and DNA markers of ITS1 and ITS2 to distinguish species and origins of V. fauriei and other Eurasian medicinal valerian.