Abstract:

To identify some closely related Pinellia species and evaluate interspecific relationships among them. The cpDNA trnL-F sequence of 9 taxa representing 5 species of Pinellia and Philodendron sp. Schott as one outgroup were determined by clone and sequencing, and the sequences were analyzed by means of the software of ClustalX1.81 and PAUP 4.0. The length of trnL-F sequence was 1027-1136 bp, the percentage of G +C content was 34.6%-36.8%. The length became to 994 bp after aligned these sequences and cut the overhanging terminals. When the gaps were always treated as missing, there were twenty nine variable sites and 6 parsim-info sites, which could be used to identify some species of Pinellia. Based on the results of cluster, the Pinellia species could be divided into two major branches. P. inlegrifolia, P. ternata, P. cordata and P. peltata were clustered into branchⅠ, while P. pedatisecta was in branch Ⅱ. The molecular phylogenetic trees of these nine Pinellia species which constructed by N-J methods were considerable discrepant. It suggested that species differentiations of these nine medicinal taxa in Pinellia were incomplete and the evolution of trnL-F sequence was not identical, which were good molecular markers for identification species of Pinellia.