Advances in Cannabic New Genetic Markers and Its Application
Cannabis is an annual or biennial dioecious herb, belonging to cannabis genus of cannabaceae. It is an important economic crop in many countries including China. However, the leaves and infioresences of cannabis contain high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a toxic ingredient with strong addiction and narcotic, thus as one main sources of drugs. Therefore, the identification of cannabis plant has important significance in the fighting against drug trafficking and related criminal cases. Traditional cannabic genetic marks include random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) et al. But they are susceptible to environmental conditions, unrepeatable and unstable, which is only suitable for primers screening. The article reviews the characteristics and the research progress of cannabic new genetic marks, including sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR), chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), short tandem repeats (STR) and single nucleotide polymorp-hisms (SNP), and applicability in cannabis breeding, forensic science and evolution of system. The purpose is to provide a reference for forensic science and other relevant studies.