Medicinal Materials DNA Barcode Database (MMDBD) version 1.5—one-stop solution for storage, BLAST, alignment and primer design

Authentication of medicinal materials by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology is gaining popularity. In 2010, our team has created Medicinal Materials DNA Barcode Database (MMDBD) version 1.0 to provide an interactive database for documenting DNA barcode sequences of medicinal materials. This database now contains DNA barcode sequences of medicinal materials listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Dietary Supplements Compendium and Herbal Medicine Compendium of the US Pharmacopoeia and selected adulterants. The data archive is regularly updated and currently it stores 62 011 DNA sequences of 2111 medicinal materials. Our team has recently completed the major improvement on the interfaces and incorporated essential bioinformatics tools to facilitate the authentication work. MMDBD version 1.5 contains detailed information of each medicinal material including their material names, medical part, pharmacopeia information, biological classification in rank of family and status on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, if any. DNA sequences can be retrieved by search in Latin scientific name, Chinese name, family name, material name, medical part and simplified Chinese character stroke. A `BLAST’-based engine for searching DNA sequences is included in the MMDBD version 1.5. Since primer design is a key step in DNA barcoding authentication, we have integrated the `Clustal Omega alignment tool’ and `Primer3’ in the form of web interface. These new tools facilitate multiple sequence comparison and the design of primers for amplification of a target DNA barcode region, allowing DNA barcoding authentication.