ASSESSMENT OF ALLOZYME VARIATION AMONG NEW-ZEALAND POPULATIONS OF GRACILARIA-CHILENSIS (GRACIALIARES, RHODOPHYTA) USING STARCH-GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

New Zealand populations of Gracilaria chilensis are uniform in anatomical reproductive characteristics but vary morphologically and have been found to separate into two distinct groups with respect to agar methylation level, namely low (24-30%) and high (43-47%). To investigate the genetic variation within New Zealand populations of this species, 14 isozyme loci detected by starch-gel electrophoresis were examined in 17 wild populations from a wide range of localities, and in cultures derived from these populations. Five of these loci were polymorphic, but the genetic variation within populations was low: of the 17 populations examined, 15 were fixed at all loci (heterozygosity 0.000) and in the remaining two populations the observed heterozygosity was still low (0.004 and 0.01 1). The genetic distances between the populations ranged from 0.00 to 0.43. UPGMA cluster analysis separated the populations into two groups, a northern group and a group found throughout the country. Although these two groups do not correlate with the two groups based on agar methylation level at every locality, the correlation is sufficiently striking to merit further investigation.