Anatomical, chemical, and molecular genetic studies of Ephedra distachya

Ni S., Matsumoto M., Shimoyama Y., Allain N., Coşkun M., Yllmaz T., ...Daha Fazla

Journal of Japanese Botany, cilt.88, sa.3, ss.144-155, 2013 (Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 88 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2013
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Japanese Botany
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.144-155
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Alkaloid, Anatomical study, Ephedra distachya, Ephedrae Herba, ITSI
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Ephedrae Herba (ma-huang in Chinese), the herbal stems of Ephedra sinica Stapf, which belongs to the Ephedraceae family, is an important crude drug in traditional Chinese medicine. Some researchers think that this species is identical to E. distachya L., which mainly grows in Europe. Thus, in this study, we carried out anatomical, chemical, and molecular genetic studies on E. distachya plants collected in Switzerland, France, and Turkey to consider whether E. distachya could be used to produce Ephedrae Herba. As a result, we found that the morphology of the subepidermal fiber bundles in cross sections of the herbal stems of E. distachya and the frequencies of ephedrine alkaloids in E. distachya were quite different from those observed in E. sinica and that the DNA sequence of the ITS1 region of E. distachya contains 11 base changes compared with that of E. sinica. Based on these facts, we concluded that E. distachya and E. sinica should be treated as different taxa and that, according to the prescriptions of the current Japanese and Chinese pharmacopoeias, E. distachya is not suitable for producing Ephedrae Herba.