Authentication of Chinese crude drug, Gecko, by allele-specific diagnosticPCR

Based on the sequences of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene fragment of 17 sa mples from Gekkonidae, Salamandridae, Agamidae and Hynobiidae, respectively , a pair of allele-specific primers was designed for differentiating the Ch inese medicinal material Gecko from its adulterants by PCR. The results of amplification with the primers indicate that amplicons from the templates o f Gekko gecko were clearly revealed by agarose gel electrophoresis, whereas no evident amplicons were found from other species. The primers were emplo yed to identify crude drug samples from different sources, Among a total of 9 samples, 3 were diagnosed as genuine Gecko. This result is consistent wi th morphological identification and DNA sequence analyses.