Abstract
This study used the sequence of the mitochondrial Cytochrome b (Cytb) to estimate phylogenetic relationships among host Hepialidae insects of Cordyceps sinensis. Genome DNA of host insect was extracted from the dead larva head part of 18 cordyceps populations and 2 species of Hepialus, and the Cytb fragment of host insect was amplified with PCR technique. The nucleotide sequence alignments and their homologous sequences of 24 species host Hepialidae insects of Cordyceps sinensis were obtained from GenBank and were used to construct Phylogenetic trees based on neighbor-joining method. The results showed that genus Bipectilus diverged earlier than genus Hepialus Hepialiscus. Hepialus host insects of Cordyceps sinensis have multitudinous species with different morphological characteristics and geographical distributions. The interspecific genetic differentiations are obvious in Hepialus. Thus, the genus Hepialus might be considered as polyphyletic origin. Cytb sequences have abundant variations among the host insects of Cordyceps ninensis on specific and generic level. The divergence rate of Cytb sequences among the species in Hepialus ranged from 0.23% to 9.24%, except that Hepialus pratensis and Hepialus jinshaensis have the same sequence. Cytb sequence can be used for species identification of host insects of Cordyceps sinensis, but further confirmation in fore host insect species is needed. To obtain the Cytb sequence of host insect by amplifying DNA extracted from the head part of dead larva in cordyceps turns out to be an effective and accurate apprach, which will be useful for studies on phylogeny and genetic structure of host insects of cordyceps populations, especially for analyzing relationships between C.sinensis and its host insects.
1Supported by the Special Plan of Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (30DZ19547)
Notes
1Supported by the Special Plan of Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (30DZ19547)