Abstract: DNA fingerprinting among members of the Chinese drug Pu Gong Ying (Taraxacum mongolicum Hand, -Mazz.) and six adulterants of Tu Gong Ying were demonstrated with random-primed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) including arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Distinctive, reproducible genomic fingerprints from DNA from 7 species belonged to Compositae were generated with two long (20 and 24 mer) and one short (10 mer) randomly chosen primers.The Pu Gong Ying can be differentiated from six species of Tu Gong Ying according to the banding pattems of their amplified DNA on agarose gels.The results showed that AP-PCR and RAPD methods can be used for identifying Chinese drugs.Moreover, the Similarity Indexes of the genomic DNA fingerprints showed that Pu Gong Ying and its adulterants are unrelated.Therefore, AP-PCR and RAPD methods can be used for identifying Chinese drugs.

Key words: Chinese drug identification, Taraxacum mongolicum, DNA fingerprinting, Polymerase chain reaction