Phylogenetic Investigation of Yellow Camellias Based on Electrochemical Voltammetric Fingerprints

Abstract

The electrochemical fingerprints of Camellia huana, C. tianeensis, C. pubipetala, C. chrysantha, C. nitidissima, C. wumingensis, C. quinqueloculosa, C. tunghinensis, C. euphlebia, C. flavida and C. multipetala were recorded using a screen-printed electrode after leaf tissue modification. The electrochemical fingerprints recorded under phosphate buffer solution and acetic acid buffer solution were derived for species identification. In addition, the intraspecific relationships between these Camellia spp. were studied based on the recorded electrochemical profiles. The differences in the electrochemically active compounds in the leaf tissue could reflect the differences at the gene level. These results suggest that C. pubipetala has a relatively distant relationship with these species. A previous report claimed that C. tianeensis was a variant of C. huana and supported the integration of C. tianeensis into C. huana . The close relationship of C. tianeensis and C. huana was confirmed by the proposed electrochemical method. C. multipetala was first considered to have a close relationship with C. flavida because they share many similar features. Later, C. wumingensis and C. quinqueloculosa were also reported to be highly related to C. flavida . Our results suggested that C. flavida has a distinct relationship with these three species.