Jewel orchid is the common name of several orchid species which can be alike in morphological characteristics, but variable in medicinal properties. At present, two DNA barcode loci, namely, maturase K (matK) and ribulose 1,5-biphosphate carboxylase (rbcL), are intensively utilized for plant identification. However, the discrimination effectiveness of these loci is variable among plant species. This study was carried out to compare the identifying efficacy of these two loci on jewel orchid population collected throughout Vietnam. The results revealed that 21 jewel orchid accessions studied were segregated into four different species with significant variations. The discrimination power of matK and rbcL markers in this jewel orchid study displayed different efficiency level. The rbcL gene has higher distinguishing potential than either matK gene alone or the combination of both genes. The findings of this project could provide valuable information that is necessary for classification, plant origin identification, breeding, and conservation program of jewel orchid in Vietnam.

中文翻译：

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matK和rbcL DNA 条形码在越南宝石兰花品种遗传分类中的比较

宝石兰花是几种兰花物种的通用名称，它们的形态特征可能相似，但药用特性各不相同。目前，两个 DNA 条形码位点，即成熟酶 K (matK) 和核酮糖 1,5-二磷酸羧化酶 (rbcL)，被广泛用于植物鉴定。然而，这些基因座的区分效力在植物物种之间是可变的。进行这项研究是为了比较这两个基因座对整个越南收集的宝石兰种群的识别功效。结果表明，所研究的 21 种宝石兰花品种被分为四个不同的物种，它们之间存在显着差异。在这项珠宝兰花研究中，matK 和 rbcL 标记的辨别能力显示出不同的效率水平。rbcL 基因比单独的 matK 基因或两种基因的组合具有更高的区分潜力。该项目的研究结果可为越南宝石兰的分类、植物来源鉴定、育种和保护计划提供必要的宝贵信息。