DNA and Phytochemical Fingerprinting of Actaea Species

描述（由申请人提供）：黑升麻（Actaea racemosa，syn. Cimicifuga racemosa）是一种受欢迎的膳食补充剂，目前是更年期妇女激素替代疗法最有前途的替代方法之一。根和根状茎，通常通过野生手工采集，通常用于植物制剂。在美国，有几种Actaea与黑升麻共存，其中一些很难区分。此外，亚洲的Actaea物种也被当作黑升麻出售。良好的植物学和生产实践受到缺乏足够的数据，植物学鉴定和植物化学的不同物种在这一属。这项研究涉及检查的变化在Actaea在物种，人口和季节水平。我们计划使用DNA和植物化学指纹技术来区分A。通过DNA条形码，高效液相色谱-光电二极管阵列（HPLC-PDA）和液相色谱-质谱（LC-MS）方法，我们已经在我们的实验室开发了八个北美和四个亚洲物种的变异，从密切相关的Actaea物种中提取总状花序。我们将使用植物化学和DNA（扩增片段长度多态性）方法对20个黑升麻种群的特征进行指纹分析。我们还将研究黑升麻成分的季节性变化。这些数据将用于提高黑升麻的识别。建立可靠的DNA指纹和植物化学指纹技术对升麻属植物进行鉴定，对于开展植物系统学基础研究和安全利用升麻具有重要意义。我们的长期目标是提高黑升麻膳食补充剂的质量，并了解Actaea物种的变化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa, syn. Cimicifuga racemosa) is a popular dietary supplement and currently one of the most promising alternative approaches to hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. The root and rhizomes, often collected by wild-crafting, are typically used for botanical preparations. There are several species of Actaea that co-occur with black cohosh in the US, and some of these are difficult to differentiate. In addition, Asian Actaea species are being sold as black cohosh. Good botanical and manufacturing practices are hampered by the lack of adequate data about the botanical identification and phytochemistry of the different species in this genus. This study involves the examination of variation in Actaea at the species, population, and seasonal levels. We plan to use DNA and phytochemical fingerprinting methods to distinguish A. racemosa from closely related Actaea species by examining variation in eight North American and four Asian species by DNA barcoding, high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array (HPLC-PDA), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods that we have developed in our laboratories. We will fingerprint the distinguishing features of 20 populations of black cohosh using phytochemical and DNA (amplified fragment length polymorphisms) methods. We will also examine the seasonal variation of black cohosh constituents. The data will be used to improve the identification of black cohosh. For both basic research on plant systematics and the safe use of black cohosh, it is important to develop reliable DNA and phytochemical fingerprinting methods to identify Actaea species. Our long-range goals are to improve the quality of black cohosh dietary supplements and understand the variation in Actaea species.