Techen Natascha, Parveen Iffat, Khan Ikhlas A
a National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 1848, MS 38677, USA.
b Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Genome. 2017 Mar;60(3):201-207. doi: 10.1139/gen-2015-0105. Epub 2016 Nov 3.
Yams are species of the genus Dioscorea (family Dioscoreaceae), which consists of approximately 630 species. The majority of the world production of yams occurs in Africa with 58.8 million t annually, but they are also produced in the Americas and Asia. The saponins in yams have been reported to possess various properties to improve health. The tuber and aerial parts of various species often share morphological similarities, which can cause problems in the proper identification of sample material. For example, the rootstocks and aerial parts of Dioscorea villosa L. share similarities with Dioscorea polystachia Turcz. Dioscorea bulbifera L. may be mistaken for Dioscorea alata L. owing to similar morphologies. Various molecular analyses have been published to help with the identification of species and varieties within the genus Dioscorea. The multi-loci or single-locus analysis has resulted in varying success, some with only a limited discrimination rate. In the present study, a single nuclear genomic region, biparentally inherited, was analyzed for its usefulness as a molecular marker for species identification and discrimination between D. bulbifera, D. villosa, D. nipponica, D. alata, D. caucasica, and D. deltoidea samples. The results of this study show that the LFY genomic region can be useful as a molecular marker to distinguish between samples.
山药是薯蓣属（薯蓣科）的物种，该属约有630个物种。世界上大部分山药产量来自非洲，每年达5880万吨，但美洲和亚洲也有产出。据报道，山药中的皂苷具有多种有益健康的特性。不同物种的块茎和地上部分通常在形态上有相似之处，这可能会在正确识别样本材料时造成问题。例如，柔毛薯蓣的根茎和地上部分与穿龙薯蓣相似。由于形态相似，零余子薯蓣可能会被误认为是翼薯蓣。已经发表了各种分子分析方法来帮助识别薯蓣属内的物种和品种。多位点或单一位点分析的成功率各不相同，有些只有有限的鉴别率。在本研究中，分析了一个单亲遗传的单细胞核基因组区域作为分子标记在鉴别零余子薯蓣、柔毛薯蓣、日本薯蓣、翼薯蓣、高加索薯蓣和三角叶薯蓣样本中的有用性。本研究结果表明，LFY基因组区域可作为区分样本的分子标记。
