Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis and RAPD-derived sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) marker development to identify Chinese and Korean ginseng

Panax ginseng, a family Araliaceae, is an herbaceous medicinal plant with thickened roots containing pharmacologically active triterpenes, and distributed in North East Asia. Korean and Chinese ginseng are same species but consumers require strict identification of the place of origin of Chinese and Korean ginseng because of highly different prices of roots. Here, we investigated the intraspecific population of Korean and Chinese ginseng byrandom amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and developed RAPD-derived sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) marker. RAPD analysis using two UBC (University of British Columbia) primers (519 and 534) resulted in high polymorphic to detect the genetic differences between Korean and Chinese ginseng population but highly monomorphic among the individuals within the population. Chinese ginseng specific PCR products using a 534 primer were isolated and sequenced. From the PCR reaction using SCAR primer (CG965) designed from 965 bp of sequence, population of Chinese ginseng was determined as a clear band but Korean ginseng did not produce any amplified band. Conclusively, two RAPD primers (519 and 534) were effective to detect heterogeneity of ginseng population growing in Korea and China, and a RAPD-derived SCAR marker can be used for rapid identification of Chinese ginseng population among Korean ginseng one.   Key words: Panax ginseng, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) marker.