Discrimination of Trachelospermum plants commercially distributed in Japan based on PCR-RFLP analysis

Abstract

We conducted PCR-RFLP analyses for the rp/16 intron in cpDNA and ITS regions in nrDNA to discriminate Trachelospermum plants commercially distributed for landscaping in Japan. The results of PCR-RFLP analyses for the rp/16 intron suggested that T. jasminoides from China could be discriminated from T. asiaticum and T. jasminoides from Japan. However, the results of PCR-RFLP analyses for the ITS regions showed that discrimination between T. jasminoides and hybrids of T. asiaticum and T. jasminoides was impossible, because T. jasminoides showed nucleotide additivity in the ITS regions. Although morphological characteristics were also investigated, morphological intermediate individuals were not found.