An Assessment of the Utility of Universal and Specific Genetic Markers for Opium Poppy Identification

Abstract

The proper identification of illicit plants such as Papaver somniferum L (opium poppy) is important for law enforcement agencies. The identification of opium poppy was presently tested using 10 genetic markers that are universal for all plants or specific to a few poppy plants. The genetic distances of universal markers such as nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rRNA, plastid rbcL, and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer (IGS) of 14 species included in the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae family were acquired by sequence comparisons. Both the ITS region and trnL-trnF IGS showed high levels of interspecific divergence. Six Papaver genera-specific markers were developed from coding regions involved in morphine biosynthesis. Three markers (TYDC, NCS, and BBE) produced amplicons only in opium poppy, providing a presence/absence test for opium poppy, while three additional markers (CYP80B1, SAT, and COR) were genus specific. These 10 markers might be useful for the forensic DNA analysis of opium poppy.

Phytochemical and biological research of Papaver pharmaceutical resources

“…The identification of opium poppy was tested using 10 genetic markers that are universal for all plants or specific to a few poppy plants (Lee et al, 2010). The genetic distances of universal markers such as ITS, 18S rRNA, rbcL, and trnL-trnF intergenic spacer of 14 species included in the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae families were acquired by sequence comparisons.…”

Phytochemical and biological research of Chelidonieae pharmaceutical resources

“…Only rbcL and ITS sequences are available for all genera. The chloroplast and nuclear DNA markers can be used in the identification of illicit plants such as Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy; Lee et al, 2010), as well as Chelidonieae plants with medicinal use. This classification does not contradict with the chemotaxonomic results (Feng et al, 1985).…”

“…No/trace amount benzylisoquinoline alkaloids were detected in the families Lardizabalaceae and Circaeasteraceae and the genus Glaucidium of Ranunculaceae (Wang, 2007). The analysis involved 18 nucleotide sequences (ITS + rbcL) retrieved from NCBI GenBank, which were used in the previous phylogenetic studies (Hoot et al, 1997;Wang et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2010). On the other hand, abundant benzylisoquinoline alkaloids were also found in Annonaceae (Magnoliales), Lauraceae (Laurales), and Colchicaceae (Liliales) .…”

Rapid Plant Identification Using Species- and Group-Specific Primers Targeting Chloroplast DNA

“…However, unlike the COI in animals, the alignment of non-coding cpDNA sequences is challenging due to the considerable variability which can occur even between closely related taxa [25]. Consequently, so far only few primers are available for specific plant taxa, most of them accessing nuclear DNA [1], [26], [27]. The current paper describes a novel approach for identifying plant species via diagnostic PCR based on the trn L-F region.…”