Angelica  sinensis is a highly valued medicinal herb, known as female  ginseng that is widely cultivated in China. Although A. sinensis is in  great demand due to its multiple medicinal and food applications, its early  bolting rate (almost 40%) seriously affects crop quality. To better understand  its flowering mechanism, cDNA-amplified RFLP analysis was employed to look for  gene expression differences between flower bud and shoot apical meristem  tissues. Sixty-four primer sets were used, with each primer set amplified to 60  transcript-derived fragments. Some transcript-derived fragments were expressed  only in the flower bud. After cloning, sequencing and a homology search, 46  distinct sequences were obtained; 26 of these were found to have homologous  sequences in databases. These included trans-caffeoyl-CoA  3-O-methyltransferase, 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate  reductoisomerase, 15-cis-zeta-carotene isomerase, isoamylase, and calmodulin-binding  protein. These genes are closely related to pollen germination and pollen tube  growth, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and other metabolic pathways.  Confirmation of differential expression of 10 sequences was obtained by  semi-quantitative RT-PCR, showing higher expression levels in flower buds.
Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis Angelica sinensis