| Abstract: | By means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, peroxidases of 59 species and 4 varieties, belonging to ten genera of Pinaceae, were analysed. Though intraspecific zymogramatic variation may be observed within a few species, each species possesses its specific zymogram, distinguishable from the others. In order to measure divergence between two taxa, we have defined “zymogram distance” as follows: number of different bands between two taxa zymogram distance= —————————————— total number of bands in the same two taxa Similar tendencies are shown among average intergeneric zymogram distances, antigenic distances (Prager et al. 1976), and generic divergence time. Molecular evidences support classical taxonomy of Pinaceae. Agreed with the data from Populus, the evolutionary rate of plant peroxidase seems stable. The possible contribution of zymogram to investigation of molecular and morphological evolution of plants is discussed. |
