Discrimination and Authentication of Eclipta prostrata and E. alba Based on the Complete Chloroplast Genomes

Abstract

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. prostrata is more widely used than E. alba. Morphological semblances have confounded identification of either species. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genomes of both species to provide an authentication system between the two species and understand their diversity. Both chloroplast genomes were 151,733-151,757 bp long and composed of a large single copy (83,285-83,300 bp), a small single copy (18,283-18,346 bp), and a pair of inverted repeats (25,075-25,063 bp). Gene annotation revealed 80 protein coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and four rRNA genes. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the genus Eclipta is grouped with Heliantheae tribe species in the Asteraceae family. A comparative analysis verified 29 InDels and 58 SNPs between chloroplast genomes of E. prostrata and E. alba. The low chloroplast genome sequence diversity indicates that both species are really close to each other and are not completely diverged yet. We developed six DNA markers that distinguish E. prostrata and E. alba based on the polymorphisms of chloroplast genomes between E. prostrata and E. alba. The chloroplast genome sequences and the molecular markers generated in this study will be useful for further research of Eclipta species and accurate classification of medicinal herbs.

Comparative Chloroplast Genome Analyses of Species in Gentiana section Cruciata (Gentianaceae) and the Development of Authentication Markers

“…Most of these markers were derived from the intergenic regions of cp genomes and showed high interspecific polymorphism. Previous molecular identification of Panax , Zanthoxylum , and Eclipta species also indicated that chloroplast-derived genetic markers had high discriminatory powers [ 12 , 14 , 48 ]. Therefore, specific markers developed from the comparative cp genomes were superior than the commonly used markers for identifying the closely related species.…”

The complete chloroplast genome assembly of Solidago altissima (Lineaus, 1753) (Astereae; Asteraceae)

“… 2019 ), Eclipta Alba MF993496 (Kim et al. 2017 ), Lagenophora cuchumatanica KX063879 (Vargas et al. 2017 ), Ec.…”

Unraveling the secrets of Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk.: a comprehensive study of morpho-anatomy and DNA barcoding

“…The floral heads are solitary and white, and their diameter is 6 -8 mm. Previous molecular research conducted by Kim et al (2017) managed to analyze the chloroplast genome of E. alba and its closest relative (Eclipta prostrata), and gene annotation revealed 80 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The results of the study by Kim et al (2017) also revealed a low diversity of nucleotide sequences in E. alba and E. prostrata.…”

“…Based on this comparison, the difference between the two species is in the color of the stem and the base of the leaf. According to Kim et al (2017), both species have similar morphological features, but E. alba has smoother leaf blade margins compared to E. prostrata. Because they share the same morphological characteristics and share the same habitat (Baskaran and Jayabalan, 2005;Dhaka and Kothari, 2005), E. alba is often mixed with E. prostrata (Muruganantham et al, 2009).…”