A novel biological sources consistency evaluation method reveals high level of biodiversity within wild natural medicine: A case study of <i>Amynthas</i> earthworms as

Zhimei Xing; Han Gao; Dan Wang; Ye Shang; Tenukeguli Tuliebieke; Jibao Jiang; Chunxiao LI; Hong Wang; Zhenguo LI; Lifu Jia; Yongsheng WU; Dandan Wang; Wenzhi Yang; Yanxu Chang; Xiaoying Zhang; Liuwei XU; Chao Jiang; Luqi Huang; Xiaoxuan Tian

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A novel biological sources consistency evaluation method reveals high level of biodiversity within wild natural medicine: A case study of Amynthas earthworms as "Guang Dilong".

Author: Zhimei XING ¹ ; Han GAO ¹ ; Dan WANG ¹ ; Ye SHANG ¹ ; Tenukeguli TULIEBIEKE ¹ ; Jibao JIANG ² ; Chunxiao LI ¹ ; Hong WANG ¹ ; Zhenguo LI ³ ; Lifu JIA ⁴ ; Yongsheng WU ³ ; Dandan WANG ³ ; Wenzhi YANG ¹ ; Yanxu CHANG ¹ ; Xiaoying ZHANG ¹ ; Liuwei XU ¹ ; Chao JIANG ⁵ ; Luqi HUANG ⁵ ; Xiaoxuan TIAN ¹
Author Information

1. State Key Laboratory of Component-Based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China.
2. School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
3. Mudanjiang YouBo Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Mudanjiang 157000, China.
4. Guizhou Ruihe Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Guizhou 550000, China.
5. State Key Laboratory of Dao-di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100010, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Metabarcoding; Mini-barcode; Subgroup; Traditional Chinese medicine; “Guang Dilong”
From: Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2023;13(4):1755-1770
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract: For wild natural medicine, unanticipated biodiversity as species or varieties with similar morphological characteristics and sympatric distribution may co-exist in a single batch of medical materials, which affects the efficacy and safety of clinical medication. DNA barcoding as an effective species identification tool is limited by its low sample throughput nature. In this study, combining DNA mini-barcode, DNA metabarcoding and species delimitation method, a novel biological sources consistency evaluation strategy was proposed, and high level of interspecific and intraspecific variations were observed and validated among 5376 Amynthas samples from 19 sampling points regarded as "Guang Dilong" and 25 batches of proprietary Chinese medicines. Besides Amynthas aspergillum as the authentic source, 8 other Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) were elucidated. Significantly, even the subgroups within A. aspergillum revealed here differ significantly on chemical compositions and biological activity. Fortunately, this biodiversity could be controlled when the collection was limited to designated areas, as proved by 2796 "decoction pieces" samples. This batch biological identification method should be introduced as a novel concept regarding natural medicine quality control, and to offer guidelines for in-situ conservation and breeding bases construction of wild natural medicine.