基于叶绿体基因组和植物代谢组学技术的南五味子药材基原分类与鉴定研究

Taxonomy and identification of the source plants of Chinese medicinal materials and their closely related species have been the challenge of medicinal plant research. Schisandra sphenanthera is stipulated as the source plant of the Chinese medicinal materials “Nan Wu Wei Zi” by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Morphological characteristic and DNA barcoding were previously used in classifying Schisandra sphenanthera and its closely related species. However, the low resolution of the two kinds of taxonomic indicators leads to the species boundaries unsolved, which consequently result in the misuse of the fruits of nearly 10 species in Schisandra as “Nan Wu Wei Zi”. Our previous study shows that the combination study of high-throughput and high-resolution chloroplast genome and plant metabolism possess a good application prospect in delimiting species boundary, establishing the phylogenetic relationship and distinguishing the species chemical constituents in Schisandraceae. Therefore, this study focus on establishing the chloroplast genome–plant metabolism coupling technique system, based on genetics and chemistry information, to clarify the species boundary of S. sphenanthera and its phylogenetic relationship with the closely related species, and investigate the difference of chemical composition between “Nan Wu Wei Zi” and its fake products. As a study case, this research is expected to provide an innovative idea to solve similar taxonomic problems and develop a new method in the taxonomy of medicinal plants, and is of great significance for laying theoretical foundation and providing technical support for the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine.

中药材基原物种与近缘易混种的分类和鉴定一直是药用植物资源研究的难题。南五味子药材的基原物种是华中五味子，目前用于鉴别华中五味子与其近缘种的分类手段（形态特征和DNA分子条形码片段）分辨率不足，导致这些物种间的界限至今不清，近10种五味子属植物的果实均被作为“南五味子”入药。我们前期研究发现，高通量、高分辨率的叶绿体基因组与植物代谢组相结合的技术，在五味子科中近缘物种界定、亲缘关系明确及药材物质基础区分上有很好的应用前景。基于此，本研究拟建立叶绿体基因组—植物代谢组联用的技术体系，从遗传和化学物质基础两方面阐明华中五味子的物种界限及其与近缘种的关系，探讨南五味子药材及混用品的化学成分差异，解决该类群的分类与鉴定难题，为药材质量稳定性与临床用药有效性提供保障。以此为范例，本项目有望为解决同类问题提供新的研究思路，为药用植物的分类开拓新的研究方法，为中药材质量控制奠定理论基础并提供技术支撑。