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Establishing morphological and molecular evidences to support the identification of “yerba buena” (Mentha × villosa Huds.) in the Philippines

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Abstract

Mentha × villosa is a perennial, aromatic herb that is commonly cultivated as a medicinal plant in the Philippines with verified medicinal properties. Using Illumina sequencing data, we assembled and annotated the complete chloroplast genome of an accession of M. × villosa (ICROPS 2020053) from the germplasm collection of the Institute of Crop Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños Laguna. Morphological characterization was done to ensure that the observed traits fall within the taxonomic description of the species and agree with the reference specimen conserved in the genebank and preserved in the herbarium. The complete cp genome is 152,048 bp long which exhibits a quadripartite circular structure and is characterized by a large single-copy of 83,179 bp, short single-copy of 17,653 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions of 25,068 bp each. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome was 37.8%. The plastome is comprised of 130 genes coding for 37 tRNA, 8 rRNA and 84 mRNA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that M. × villosa is closely related to M. × piperita and M. spicata. This information further supports the conserved nature of chloroplast genomes despite historical natural interspecific hybridization. The assembled complete chloroplast genome of M. × villosa is valuable in elucidating phylogenetic relationships among Mentha species in the Philippines. These observed traits could be used as markers to identify M. × villosa, the medicinal species used by the Philippine herbal industry, which is often confused with other Mentha species.

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Data availability

The genome sequence data that support the findings of this study are openly available in GenBank of NCBI at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/OP404081.1/ under the accession no. OP404081.1.

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Acknowledgements

The study would like to thank the Department of Science and Technology—Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) and Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST—PCHRD) for the support. The authors would also like to thank Ronil Beliber and Arvin Medrano for cultivating the germplasm, and Eddelaine Joyce Bautista and Edna Mercado for processing the paperwork needed for the research project.

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology—Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development [N9-250-21] and Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST—PCHRD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

    Kristine Joyce O. Quiñones, Renerio P. Gentallan Jr., Michael Cedric B. Bartolome, Roselle E. Madayag, Emmanuel Bonifacio S. Timog, Juan Rodrigo A. Vera Cruz, Nadine B. Coronado, Leah E. Endonela, Teresita H. Borromeo, Nestor C. Altoveros, Bartimeus Buiene S. Alvaran & Reneliza D. Cejalvo

  2. Department of Forest Biological Sciences, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

    Emmanuel Bonifacio S. Timog

  3. Agricultural Systems Institute, College of Agriculture and Food Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

    Roselle E. Madayag

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  1. Kristine Joyce O. Quiñones
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  2. Renerio P. Gentallan Jr.
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  12. Reneliza D. Cejalvo
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Contributions

All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. KJOQ and RPGJ. conceptualized the study, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper; MCBB, REM, EBST, JRAVC, NBC, BBSA and RDC planted, collected and prepared the germplasm, pressed the herbarium samples, reviewed literature, performed experiments, edited the paper; THB, NCA, and LEE helped conceptualize the study, validated the design of the experiment and the data presented, and reviewed drafts of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renerio P. Gentallan Jr..

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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The collection of plant material was carried out in accordance with the guidelines provided by the authors’ institution (Institute of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Food Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños).

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Quiñones, K.J.O., Gentallan, R.P., Bartolome, M.C.B. et al. Establishing morphological and molecular evidences to support the identification of “yerba buena” (Mentha × villosa Huds.) in the Philippines. J. Crop Sci. Biotechnol. 26, 607–613 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-023-00204-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892-023-00204-5

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