In this study, we investigated Lycium barbarum, a Chinese medicine sold on
the Taiwan market, using RAPD analysis. Sixty oligonucleotide primers were
used to screen twenty randomly selected samples in the analysis. Total DNA
extracted from the fruit of the medicine material was used as template in t
hr PCR reaction. Four primers: OPD-15, OPG-15, OPT-12 and OPT-17, showed di
stinct polymorphic patterns, but others exhibited profiles nearly identical
to the other samples used in the study. We found that only two RAPD finger
printing types of these primers were outlined from twenty collected Lycium
samples. Fifteen samples showed the first type of profiles while only five
samples resulted of the second type. A low genetic diversity among the Lyci
um barbarum samples was revealed by RAPD analysis.