| Abstract: | Disc gel electrophoretic assays of Mimulus plants showed young stems to contain at least 15 esterase bands. The 6 bands in the center of the gels were highly reproducible. Eighty-one populations representative of all the cytotaxonomic groups and of the Western Hemisphere geographic range of the Mimulus glabratus complex were assayed for those 6 bands. There was no apparent correlation between the distribution of the esterase bands and important environmental parameters such as elevation and latitude. Hence, their distribution did not appear to reflect environmental adaptive values. Each population was monophonic for its particular combination and intensity of esterase bands which is consistent with our previous suggestion that genetic drift is a strong component of the evolutionary pattern of the complex. |
