Electrophoretic variation in a population of the lichen Peltigera rufescens (Weis.) Mudd

Isoelectric focusing was used to investigate the distribution of enzymes exhibiting phosphoglucose isomerase, phosphoglucose mutase, malate dehydrogenase, esterase, hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, peroxidase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activities in a central Ontario population of the lichen Peltigera rufescens (Weis) Mudd. Samples of thalli were collected in order to estimate enzymatic variation in thalli collected within a site (separated by distances of 1-10 m) and between sites (separated by 5-15 km). A total of 85 different enzyme bands were identified in the 27 samples analysed. The results indicated that, at some locations, within site variation was as large as between site variation. The importance of this variation in the design of physiological studies of lichens is discussed.