An Electrophoretic Protein Analysis and Numerical Taxonomic Study of the Genus Taphrina

Snider, R; Kramer, C

SUMMARY: The buffer-soluble proteins of the yeast phase of 31 species of Taphrina (50 isolates) were analyzed using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The general protein profile revealed an average 13.66 bands per gel for 91 samples of the 50 isolates studied. Although no one band was found in all 91 samples, some fractions appeared characteristic of the genus in both mobility and concentration of the proteins. Grouping species according to their host specificity or their morphology revealed that seven of the eight host families and five of six ascus groups were more homologous than were the 91 samples, implying closer relationships within groups than among samples. A numerical cluster analysis, performed using the 32 different mobility values found by analyzing the 50 isolates of Taphrina, revealed that, some cases, intraspecies variations were just as great as interspecies variations. However, data also revealed that isolates of the same species, as shown by computed distance relationships, were more homologous than were most interspecies pairings. Apparently PAGE and numerical analysis are useful tools for determining subgeneric and species relationships in Taphrina.