Dongling Li

Electrochemical analysis has become a new method for plant analysis in recent years. It can not only collect signals of electrochemically active substances in plant tissues, but can also be used to identify plant species. At the same time, the signals of electrochemically active substances in plant tissues can also be used to investigate plant phylogeny. In this work, we collected electrochemical finger patterns in Malvaceae leaves based on the established methodological strategy. After the second derivative treatment, the collected electrochemical fingerprints can show more obvious differences. Three different recognition models were used to attempt electrochemical fingerprinting. The results show that linear support vector classification can be used to identify species with high accuracy by combining the electrochemical fingerprint signals collected in the phosphoric acid buffer solution and acetic acid buffer solution. In addition, the fingerprint information collected by the electrochemical sensor is further used for phylogenetic investigation. The 18 species were divided into three clusters. Species of the same genus have been clustered together. Dendrogram obtained by electrochemical fingerprinting was used to compare previously reported results deduced from morphological and complete chloroplast genomes.

Electrochemical sensors have shown potential in recent years for plant species identification and phylogenetic studies. These works have been used to investigate the affinities of different species in many genera. However, the ability of electrochemical sensors to study relationships between different genera within a family has not been investigated. In this work, we selected 31 species in the Labiatae and 5 exotaxa as subjects to investigate the feasibility of electrochemical sensors at the genus level. The results show that electrochemical sensors are still very effective for the identification of these plants. Different pattern recognition techniques can make the identification more efficient. Also, the fingerprint profiles collected by the sensors can be used for phylogenetic studies of Labiatae. The phylogram divides all the species into five clusters, where the exotaxa are in one cluster. Species in the Labiatae are mainly distributed in four other clusters. Importantly, the different genera of species all showed close affinities, representing that electrochemical fingerprinting can well distinguish the affinities between the different genera. The results of this work demonstrate the great potential of electrochemical sensors in the study of plant phylogeny. Its application is not limited to the study at the species level, but can be extended to the genus level.

Indigo is a plant dye that has been used as an important dye by various ancient civilizations throughout history. Today, due to environmental and health concerns, plant indigo is re-entering the market. Strobilanthes cusia (Nees) Kuntze is the most widely used species in China for indigo preparation. However, other species under Strobilanthes have a similar feature. In this work, 12 Strobilanthes spp. were analyzed using electrochemical fingerprinting technology. Depending on their electrochemically active molecules, they can be quickly identified by fingerprinting. In addition, the fingerprint obtained under different conditions can be used to produce scattered patter and heatmap. These patterns make plant identification more convenient. Since the electrochemically active components in plants reflect the differences at the gene level to some extent, the obtained electrochemical fingerprints are further used for the discussion of phylogenetics.