Forsythia viridissima and Forsythia suspensa are listed in Korea Pharmacopoeia as the original plants of Forsythiae Fructus.1) The crude herb had been widely used as an antipyretic, antidotal and anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of infections, such as acute nephritis, erysipelas and ulcer.2,3) It was also reported that Forsythiae Fructus could suppress vomiting, resist hepatic injury, inhibit elastase activity, and exhibit diuretic, analgesic, antioxidant, antiendotoxin and antiviral effects. [4][5][6][7][8] Constituents which are contained in Forsythia suspensa include lignans (phillygenin, pinoresinol, arctigenin, matairesinol), lignan glucosides (phillyrin, pinoresinol-b-Dglucose, arctiin, matairesinoside), flavonoid (rutin) and caffeoyl glycosides (forsythiaside, acteoside, suspensaside and b-hydroxyacteoside) of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethyl alcohol. [9][10][11] According to Lee et al.,9) there are differences in the amount and distribution of constituents between Forsythia Fruit on Korean market (Forsythia viridissima) and Forsythia Fruit on Chinese market (Forsythia suspensa). In other words, there was a lack of such constituents asphillygenin, pinoresinol, phillyrin and pinoresinol-b-D-glucoside in Korean Forsythia suspensa. There was a lack of such constituents as arctigenin, matairesinol arctin and matairesinoside in Chinese Forsythia suspensa. As studies about the physiological activity of Forsythiae Fructus, the anti-oxiant effects, [12][13][14] anti-inflammatory action, [15][16][17] anti-bacterial activity, 18) anti-hypertensive action, 19) and anti-cancer 20) of Forsythia suspensa have been examined on a cellular level.On the other hand, methods for analyzing the mutation between the species and within the species have mainly been based on ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) on a molecular level. A comparison of nucleotide sequences forming internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA has been reported to be highly useful for examining the inter-species and phylogenetic relationships.
21)The ITS region, which includes two spacers, ITS 1 and ITS 2, separated by the highly conserved 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene, has been a valuable source of data for phylogenetic studies in a wide range of plant genera.22) Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays may offer an improved means of identification due to speed, sensitivity and specificity. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] TaqMan probes have a fluorescent reporter dye at one end and a quencher dye that inhibits fluorescence at the other end. During the extension stage, the prove is broken apart by the DNA-polymerase and begins to fluorescence with more intensity. More recently, real-time PCR has been used for the fast, accurate and culture independent quantification of a variety of pathogens from plant tissues 32,33) and soils. [34][35][36][37] Both the fruits of Forsythia viridissima and Forsythia suspensa are used as a herbal medicine. Because there are differences in the amount and distribution of constituents between Forsythia viridissima and Forsy...