Electrophoretic evidence of reproductive isolation between two varieties of the moss, climacium americanum

Abstract

Two hundred and twenty individuals of the moss, Climacium americanum, from three localities in the Piedmont of North Carolina were sampled for a study of electrophoreticaliy detectable genetic variation. Eight enzymes (ACP, ADH, ESTf1, GOT, PER, PGI, PGM, and SOD) were assayed and only two (GOT, SOD) were monomorphic at all three localities, in spite of the extreme rarity of sexual reproduction in this species. Although the var. kindbergii has generally been considered a form of C. americanum induced by submersion in water, there was a strong correlation between enzyme phenotypes and morphological characters distinguishing the two varieties of C. americanum. These data suggest that there is linkage disequilibrium among the loci coding for ACP, PGM, and PGI, and between these loci and those controlling several morphological characters that distinguish the two varieties of C. americanum. © The Genetical Society of Great Britain.