Abstract

In this study, the taxa which belong to the Jurinea Cass. genus, grown naturally in Turkey and collected from different localities, are compared in terms of their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA). The DNAs of the taxa were isolated by using a commercial kit (Nucleon Phytopure). Sequences were aligned with Clustal X. Phylogenetic relationships are assessed by sequence analysis, conducted with the DNASTAR software after the amplification of ITS regions with the universally recognized primers, named as 17SE and 26SE. In conclusion, morphologically similar taxa are also clustered together when a phylogenetic analysis is conducted based on molecular data. Jurinea species of the Anatolian peninsula are closely related with the topography of the region and certain level of molecular isolation of the species is evidenced.

Key words: Jurinea, Asteraceae, molecular systematics, phylogeny, internal transcribed spacer, Turkey.

Abbreviation

ITS, Internal transcribed spacer; nrDNA, nuclear ribosomal DNA;RNA, ribonucleic acid; rRNA, ribosomal RNA; dNTPs, deoxynucleoside 5’-triphosphate; EDTA, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; CTAB, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide; ISSRs, inter simple sequence repeats.