Title:Evaluating Potentials of Species Rich Taxonomic Groups in Cosmetics
and Dermatology: Clustering and Dispersion of Skin Efficacy of
Asteraceae and Ranunculales Plants on the Species Phylogenetic Tree
Volume: 24
Issue: 2
Author(s): Da-Cheng Hao*, Huai-Yu Lyu, Fan Wang and Pei-Gen Xiao*
Affiliation:
- Biotechnology Institute, School of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Dalian Jiaotong University, Dalian,
116028, China
- Institute of Molecular Plant Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3BF, UK
- Institute of
Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China
Keywords:
Ranunculales, asteraceae, skin efficacy, net relatedness index, nearest taxon index, phylogenetic diversity, Dstatistic.
Abstract:
Background: The medicinal properties of plants can be predicted by virtue of phylogenetic
methods, which nevertheless have not been utilized to explore the regularity of skin-related
bioactivities of ethnomedicinal plants. We aim to investigate the distribution of skin efficacy of Asteraceae
and Ranunculales plants on the species-level Tree of Life.
Methods: The clinical efficacy data of 551 ethnomedicinal species belonging to Ranunculales, as
well as 579 ethnomedicinal species of Asteraceae, were systematically collected and collated; these
therapeutic data fell into 15 categories, including skin disease/cosmeceutical. The large phylogenetic
tree of all China angiosperm species was used to detect the phylogenetic signals of ethnomedicinal
plants by calculating the D statistic, phylogenetic diversity (PD), net relatedness index (NRI), and
nearest taxon index (NTI). Of all Chinese ethnomedicinal plants of Ranunculales and Asteraceae,
339 (61.5% of all ethnomedicinal species) and 382 (66.0% of all) are used for skin problems. In
Ranunculales, a clustered structure was suggested by the NRI value for skin uses. In Asteraceae, the
skin utility was not clustered; Artemisia, Aster, Cremanthodium, Ligularia, and Saussurea are the
most used Asteraceae genera for skin issues.
Results: The clustering structure was identified in Artemisia, and the skin efficacy in other genera
was of overdispersion (NRI < 0). NTI values and D statistics largely agree with NRI. When compared
with PD values of different therapeutic categories, the PD value of the skin category was relatively
high in Cremanthodium, Ranunculales, Asteraceae, and Artemisia, suggesting the enormous
efficacy space in the new taxa of these taxonomic groups.
Conclusion: By resolving the distribution of therapeutic effects of Ranunculales/Asteraceae taxa, the
importance of phylogenetic methods in mining botanical resources with skin utilities is validated.
