| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The root of <it>Boehmeria </it>spp (ramie) is a hepatoprotective Chinese herbal medicine. Medicinal properties vary between <it>Boehmeria nivea </it>var. <it>nivea </it>and <it>Boehmeria nivea </it>var. <it>tenacissima</it>, which are local species found in Taiwan. As commercial preparations may use either species, there is a need for a rapid and simple assay to identify variants for quality control.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four methods were developed and tested for their applicability in differentiating the two species. These methods were random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD); sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR); single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three RAPD markers were developed that produced unique bands in <it>B. nivea </it>var. <it>tenacissima </it>and <it>B. nivea </it>var. <it>nivea</it>. Based on sequenced RAPD bands, one SCAR marker was developed that produced a single DNA band in <it>B. nivea </it>var. <it>nivea</it>. Two SNP markers differentiated between <it>B. nivea </it>var. <it>nivea </it>and <it>B. nivea </it>var. <it>tenacissima </it>based on single nucleotide substitutions. A pair of CAPS oligonucleotides was developed by amplifying a 0.55-kb DNA fragment that exhibited species-specific digestion patterns with restriction enzymes <it>Alf </it>III and <it>Nde </it>I. Consistent results were obtained with all the four markers on all tested <it>Boehmeria </it>lines.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study demonstrates the use of the RAPD, SCAR, SNP and CAPS markers for rapid identification of two closely related <it>Boehmeria </it>species.</p>
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