The presented investigations aimed to elucidate the genetic diversity and phylogeny of nine species of the family Asteraceae. The research applied two types of DNA markers—the directed amplification of minisatellite DNA (DAMD) and the sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP)—and the ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) barcode. The genetic distance and phylogenetic relationship estimations used the UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) algorithm and the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree clustering approaches. The total determined bands were 135 and 75, with an average of 13.5 and 9.37 for DAMD and SRAP markers, respectively. By analyzing the DAMD marker, the highest genetic distance (0.4666) was noticeable between species Cousin sp. and Urospermum picroides, while the lowest (0.785) was notable between the species Tragopogon sp. and Carduus pycnocephalus. In SRAP marker values, the lowest genetic distance (0.351) was evident in Carthamus oxyacantha and Sonchus oleraceus, while the highest (0.891) appeared between Notobasis syriaca and Carduus pycnocephalus. Based on combined data, the species Carthamus oxyacantha and Onopordum carduchorum emerged as highly diverse (0.483) compared with the species Tragopogon sp. and Carduus pycnocephalus (0.808). Four evolutionary clades were distinct, i.e., Urospermum picroides, Lactuca serriola, Notobasis syriaca, and Carthamus oxyacantha. Clade four underwent further subdivision into two subclades—Sonchus oleraceus and Tragopogon sp. with Cousin sp. and Carduus pycnocephalus and Onopordum carduchorum. The DAMD and SRAP markers with rbcL proved effective in analyzing genetic diversity in the family Asteraceae.

Keywords: Asteraceae species, DNA markers, DNA sequencing, genetic distance, genetic diversity, phylogenetic tree

Key findings: The DAMD and SRAP markers with rbcL chloroplast sequencing occurred as considerable tools to estimate the genetic distance, as well as the evolutionary relationship among the Asteraceae species. The tribe of Cardueae members appeared most clustered together.