Objective of this study was to identify selected species of Cordyceps genus using DNA barcodes. Seven strains of Cordyceps were collected. Total DNA extraction and purification, PCR amplification and DNA sequencing were performed with standard chemicals and kits. The candidate region was amplified and sequenced. Data were analyzed using Bioedit and MEGA 7 softwares. Analysis of seven obtained DNA barcode sequences of collected samples revealed that the ITS1- region provided high species discriminating power for Cordyceps genus. Accordingly, phylogenetic trees based on this DNA barcode exhibited six samples had closed relationship to Cordyceps militaris, while another specimen was the nearest neighbor to Cordyceps sinensis with average similarities at and , respectively. Our results support the identification of valuable medicinal plant species within Cordyceps genus. | Efficiency of region in identifying cordyceps species
