Dried tubers of the genus Chlorophytum (Liliaceae) are used in herbal formulations. Out of 200 species of the genus, 13 species are available in India. Identification of these species in herbal formulations is difficult on the basis of phenotypic characters. In the present study, five Chlorophytum species (C. borivilianum, C. arundinaceum, C. laxum, C. capense and C. comosum).
Plants of five species of Chlorophytum were subjected to molecular profiling using RAPD marker and the sequences of plastid ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) region and the gene rpl16 and the rpl16–rpl14 spacer region.
Species-specific RAPD markers were identified from the amplicons obtained with nine primers.
Coefficient of similarity ranged between 0.6 and 0.85. Similarly comparisons of the rbcL region sequences allowed identification of each of the five species unequivocally, whereas the gene rpl16 and the rpl16–rpl14 spacer region could identify only two species C. borivilianum and C. comosum.