A phylogenetic perspective of antiviral species of the genus Artemisia (Asteraceae-Anthemideae): A proposal of anti SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) candidate taxa

INTRODUCTION: Different classes of disease-causing viruses are widely distributed universally. Plant-based medicines are anticipated to be effective cures for viral diseases including the COVID-19, instigated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study displays the phylogenetic perspective of Artemisia and proposes some candidate taxa against different viral diseases, including SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: Data of Artemisia with antiviral activity were obtained from different published sources and electronic searches. A phylogenetic analysis of the nrDNA ITS sequences of reported antiviral Artemisia species, along with the reference species retrieved from the NCBI GenBank database, was performed using the maximum likelihood (ML) approach. RESULTS: In total, 23 Artemisia species have been documented so far with antiviral activity for 17 different types of viral diseases. 17 out of 23 antiviral Artemisia species were included in the ITS phylogeny, which presented the distribution of these antiviral Artemisia species in clades corresponding to different subgenera of the genus Artemisia. In the resultant ML tree, 10 antiviral Artemisia species appeared within the subgenus Artemisia clade, 2 species appeared within the subgenus Absinthium clade, 3 species appeared within the subgenus Dracunculus clade, and 2 species appeared within the subgenus Seriphidium clade. DISCUSSION: Artemisia species from different subgenera with antiviral activity are prevalent in the genus, with most antiviral species belonging to the subgenus Artemisia. A detailed analysis of taxa from all subgenera, particularly the subgenus Artemisia, is therefore proposed in order to discover compounds with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity.