Electrophoretic seed globulin patterns and species relationships in the genus Lens Miller.

SDS-PAGE analysis of seed globulins covered 200 accessions of the following Lens taxa: L. culinaris subsp. culinaris, L. culinaris subsp. orientalis, L. odemensis, L. ervoides, L. nigricans, L. lamottei and L. tomentosus. The number of polypeptide bands detected in particular taxa varied from 22 in L. lamottei to 35 in L. ervoides. All the taxa under study showed variation due to differences among accessions and individual variation. Electrophoretic data were subjected to statistical analysis by the UPGMA method based on Euclidean distances. In the case of L. culinaris subsp. culinaris, some distinctness of the microsperma accessions from southern and central Asia was found. As to relationships among the studied taxa, the obtained results showed that L. culinaris subsp. culinaris appeared to be most closely allied to L. odemensis, while L. culinaris subsp. orientalis was found to be the closest relative of L. tomentosus. The four taxa formed one cluster separated from L. lamottei and L. ervoides. L. nigricans was shown to be the most divergent taxon.