Type-specific Amplification of 5S rRNA from Panax ginseng Cultivars Using Touchdown (TD) PCR and Direct Sequencing

Generally, the direct sequencing through PCR is faster, easier, cheaper, and more practical than clone sequencing. Frequently, standard PCR amplification is usually interpreted by mispriming internal or external regions of the target template. Normally, DNA fragments were eluted from the gel using Gel extraction kit and subjected to direct sequencing or cloning sequencing. Cloning sequencing has often troublesome and needs more time to analyze for many samples. Since touchdown (TD) PCR can generate sufficient and highly specific amplification, it reduces unwanted amplicon generation. Accordingly, TD PCR is a good method for direct sequencing due to amplifying wanted fragment. In plants the 5S-rRNA gene is separated by simple spacers. The 5S-rRNA gene sequence is very well-conserved between plant species while the spacer is species-specific. Therefore, the sequence has been used for phylogenetic studies and species identification. But frequent occurrences of spurious bands caused by complex genomes are encountered in the product spectrum of standard PCR amplification. In conclusion, the TD PCR method can be applied easily to amplify main 5S-rRNA and direct sequencing of panax ginseng cultivars.