Systematic Value of Electrophoretic Data

Abstract

Two consistent observations from recent multi-locus electrophoretic studies are: (1) levels of genie similarity between conspecific populations appear very high (populations nearly identical in allelic content at 85 percent or more of their loci) and (2) genie similarities between different, even very closely related species, are generally much lower and more widely dispersed (congeneric species pairs often completely distinct at one-fifth to four-fifths of their loci). These observations have valuable implications regarding the practical utility of electrophoresis: (1) one or a few samples often yield adequate data for the description of an entire species for systematic purposes and (2) closely related species may be arranged according to percentages of shared alleles or genotypes. A survey of the literature indicates that when such arrangements are made, they usually correspond very closely to previously recognized relationships of various species groups based on classical systematic criteria. This observation, coupled with several theoretical advantages of the study of allozymes, makes it clear that electrophoretic techniques will provide an extremely valuable tool for systematists.