A Nucleotide Signature for Identification of Aglaiastellatopilosa Pannell

• Published in: Molecular biotechnology Vol. 56; no. 7; pp. 671 - 679
• Main Authors: Ng, Belinda Ling Nah, Omarzuki, Mariani, Lau, Gilbert Sei Kung, Pannell, Caroline M., Yeo, Tiong Chia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bioactive compounds; Biochemistry; Biological Techniques; Biotechnology; Cell Biology; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Genes; Human Genetics; Phytochemicals; Protein Science; Rainforests; Tropical forests; Nucleotide signature; Internal transcribed spacer; Species identification
• ISSN: 1073-6085; 1559-0305
• DOI: 10.1007/s12033-014-9746-0

Members of the genus
Aglaia
have been reported to contain bioactive phytochemicals. The genus, belonging to the Meliaceae family, is represented by at least 120 known species of woody trees or shrubs in the tropical rain forest. As some of these species are very similar in their morphology, taxonomic identification can be difficult. A reliable and definitive molecular method which can identify
Aglaia
to the level of the species will hence be useful in comparing the content of specific bioactive compounds between the species of this genus. Here, we report the analysis of DNA sequences in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and the observation of a unique nucleotide signature in the ITS that can be used for the identification of
Aglaia stellatopilosa
. The nucleotide signature consists of nine bases over the length of the ITS sequence (654 bp). This uniqueness was validated in 37 samples identified as
Aglaia stellatopilosa
by an expert taxonomist, whereas the nucleotide signature was lacking in a selection of other
Aglaia
species and non-
Aglaia
genera. This finding suggests that molecular typing could be utilized in the identification of
Aglaia stellatopilosa.