The concerned study sought to determine the variations based on the DNA fingerprint in two important medicinal plants, sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), belonging to the family Labiatae, using three different types of DNA markers—random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR), and start codon targeted (SCoT). The comparison of these three types of markers revealed the recording of the highest molecular size of amplified bands (988 bp) was with SCoT markers, while the lowest molecular size (156 bp) resulted in RAPD markers. By comparing the RAPD and SCoT markers, the latter produced the highest main, amplified, monomorphic, and discriminatory values. The SCoT markers also gave the most polymorphic bands. The ISSR markers outperformed the other markers in polymorphism, efficiency, and the number of unique fingerprints.

Keywords: Sage (S. officinalis L.), thyme (T. vulgaris L.), RAPD, ISSR, SCoT, DNA fingerprints

Key findings: The SCoT, RAPD, and ISSR markers considerably distinguished the two species of medicinal plants, sage (S. officinalis L.) and thyme (T. vulgaris L.), besides variations in their phytochemical content.