Systematic relationships among eight taxa of genus Festuca from the Ukraine, as revealed by seed proteins electrophoresis

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was employed to analyze seed protein composition in natural populations of eight Ukrainian taxa of the genus Festuca in an attempt to reveal systematic relationships among them. The results of the study have shown that the species F. polesica is the most distantly positioned taxon within the studied group of genus Festuca. The species F. pallens, F. psammophila and F. ovina are well defined entities, with specific patterns of their seed proteins. These taxa are differentiated from each other and clearly distinct from the taxa of F. valesiaca group. The species of F. valesiaca agg., namely, F. rupicola, F. arietina, F. macutrensis, and F. galiciensis are closely related taxa demonstrating a high level of similarity, as judged by their seed proteins. Other biochemical markers are needed to clarify the systematic relationships among the species of F. valesiaca agg.