A rapid diagnostic approach to identify poisonous plants using DNA barcoding data

Abstract

Among plants, several groups have toxicities that are dangerous for humans. Plant exposures are indeed one of the most frequent cases reported to poison control centers. A rapid and easy screening test is required for accurate medical treatment. However, it is usually based on the morphological analysis of ingested plant portions that is expensive in terms of time and resources requiring experience in systematic botany which could also be biased by the absence of clear diagnostic traits in stomach contents. In this study, we designed specific primer pairs for the amplification of a sequence-characterized amplified region within standard barcode regions (i.e., rbcL and trnH–psbA) to detect toxic plants belonging to the genera Atropa and Colchicum. Allied edible species were also included in our data-set to exclude the cross-amplification with the toxic ones when the detection system is applied. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we tested the specificity of the selected primer pairs in order to develop a fast and reliable tool to be used in poison centers.

Keywords::

• Atropa belladonna
• Colchicum spp
• sequence-characterized amplified region
• poison centers

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr.ssa Franca Davanzo, Maria Laura Colombo, Enrico Banfi, and Sandro Perego for clinical and technical information and the assistance in plant field work. English language was revised by Sandra Wacker.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by RAS research grant co-financed by PO Sardegna [FSE 2007-2013 L.R.7/2007] with the project entitled “Tassonomia integrata (morfologia e DNA barcoding) per la salvaguardia della biodiversità vegetale della Sardegna”. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.