SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF THE 5.8S RIBOSOMAL DNA AND INTERNAL TRANSCRIBED SPACERS (ITS1 AND ITS2) FROM 5 SPECIES OF THE OXALIS-TUBEROSA ALLIANCE

The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1 and ITS2) of the 18S-25S nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence and the intervening 5.8S region from fi ve species of the genus Oxalis was amplified by polymerase chain react ion and subjected to direct DN A sequencing. On the basis of cytogenet ic studies some species of this genus were postulated to be related by the number of chromosomes. Sequence homologies in the ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 among species are in good agreement with previous relationships e stablished on the basis of chromosome numbers. We also indentified a h ighly conserved sequence of six bp in the ITS1, reported to be present in a wide range of flowering plants, but not in the Oxalidaceae famil y to which the genus Oxalis belongs to.