Disc electrophoresis of analogous enzymes in Hordeum

Abstract

The genus Hordeum has been surveyed for electrophoretically distinct forms of esterase, peroxidase, catalase, glutamic acid (GDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH). "Critical" enzymes like GDH, MDH and catalase were the same in all species, but esterases and peroxidases, which have broad substrate specificities, exhibit both inter- and intra-specific polymorphism. No variant enzyme types were detected in a limited population of a cultivated "pure line" barley variety. The resemblances between zymograms of the species examined agree with the affinities based on cytogenetic analyses. The limited data obtained does indicate the potential usefulness of this information for taxonomic and evolutionary studies.