ELECTROPHORETIC KARYOTYPES OF AUTHENTIC STRAINS OF THE SENSU-STRICTO GROUP OF THE GENUS SACCHAROMYCES

A comparative electrophoretic karyotyping study was performed with sev eral certified authentic strains of the four species that could be dis tinguished by nuclear DNA (nDNA)-nDNA reassociation data within the se nsu stricto group of the genus Saccharomyces. A multivariate analysis of the polymorphisms observed in pulsed-held gel electrophoretic profi les (numbers and molecular weights of separated units) revealed that t he strains could be separated into four clusters that corresponded to the taxa that were distinguished on the basis of nDNA comparisons. Dis crepancies between nDNA reassociation data and membership in the corre sponding clusters were observed only with two strains of Saccharomyces paradoxus. Blind tests carried out with additional industrial strains confirmed the general validity of the statistical model created for c omparison of karyotypes within the species included in Saccharomyces s ensu stricto.