Abstract

Caulis clematidis Armandii (“Chuanmutong” in Chinese) has been used as an important traditional Chinese herb for a long time. As recorded, the origins ofCaulis clematidis Armandii are the dried stems of Clematis armandii Franch.and C. montana Buch. -Ham. But due to the similarity in morphology, it is difficult to distinguish C. armandii and C. montana from other Clematis species. As a result, some Clematis species were mistakenly used asCaulis clematidis Armandii, and caused potentially dangerous consequences.To overcome the limitation of the traditional morphological methods, an efficientmolecular method was developed to better distinguishCaulis clematidis Armandii from its common adulterants. Two random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fragments specific for C. armandii and C. montanawere sequenced and primers were designed for sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. The two obtained SCAR markers were specific to both C. armandii and C. montana, but were absent from otherClematis species. The protocol developed in this study can be further applied to rapid authentication of Caulis Clematidis Armandii and its common adulterants.

Key words: Athentication, Caulis clematidis armandii, Clematis armandii,Clematis Montana, RAPD, SCAR.