Establishment of Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction-based Molecular Markers to Distinguish between Rubus coreanus and Rubus occidentalis

초록

Rubus coreanus and Rubus occidentalis of the Rosaceae family are deciduous shrubs, which are commonly used in various health functional foods. The scientific name and origin of R. coreanus and R. occidentalis are distinct. However, both plants are often confused due to the morphological similarity of their fruits and misuse of the common name of R. occidentalis, “Bokbunja,” in Korea. In the present study, molecular markers were developed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to differentiate between the two species. Species-specific primers were designed using the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA and chloroplast genes, including matK, atpA, rpoB, and rpoC2. When the six designed primer sets were verified, the slope ranged from -3.18 to -3.55 and the correlation coefficient exceeded 0.99. Accordingly, the efficiency ranged between 91.10% and 106.27%. Furthermore, the developed markers were verified using a specificity test on 14 other species, including the target species. The developed real-time PCR-based molecular markers are expected to prevent the misuse of R. coreanus and R. occidentalis, ultimately contributing to the protection of consumer rights in the medical herb market.

키워드