Electrophoretic karyotype of two Micromucor species

Electrophoretic karyotype analysis was applied to obtain information on the organisation and intrageneric variability of the nuclear genome in three Micromucor isolates of two different species (M. isabellina and M. ramanniana). A protoplast formation protocol, conditions for the preparation of highly-intact chromosome-size DNA molecules and for the separation of DNA molecules were established. The chromosomal banding patterns revealed substantial variability among the isolates: 11 to 14 chromosomal mobility groups were resolved. The DNA in the Micromucor chromosomes were rather small; their estimated sizes were calculated to be between 2.60 and 0.4 Mb. Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe as size standard, the minimum total genome sizes were estimated to be between 24.19 and 24.9 Mb.