DNA Barcoding of Selected Medicinal Plant Species from Jordan Using matK, rbcL, and rpoC1 Genes

Medicinal plants play an essential role in preventing and treating several diseases. Classical taxonomic tools generally carry out medicinal plant identification and characterization. Unfortunately, conventional methods need well-trained taxonomists and could give a false identity for closely related species. Jordanian flora is rich in a variety of plant species. The phylogeographic architecture of Jordanian medicinal plant samples was not explored yet. This study aims to recruit DNA barcoding using matK, rbcL, and rpoC1 genes to identify different selected medicinal plants species from Jordan. These are Maerua crassifolia, Ziziphus spina-christi, Balanites aegyptiaca, Senna italica, and Moringa peregrina. Plant samples were collected from the Dead Sea area (Jordan), and three DNA barcode regions were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed using different bioinformatic tools. Twelve sequences were obtained and deposited in Genbank . These sequences showed a very good discrimination capacity with sequences retrieved from related species. The phylogenetic analysis illustrated that DNA barcoding could successfully identify the selected medicinal plant species using different chloroplast genes (rbcL, matK, and rpoC1). Further analysis for other plants species is recommended to explore the genetic relationship and the phylogeographic architecture for Jordanian flora.