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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 6022

F. Barros, A. Carracedo, and D.J. Diaz Cosin; Karyological and allozymic study of Allolobophora molleri complex and related taxa. Initial results. Soil Biol.Biochem. 24(12):1241-1245, 1992

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Several populations of earthworms, which, due to their anatomical characteristics should be assigned to the taxa Allolobophora molleri Rosa, 1889, A. moebii Michaelsen, 1895, A. fernandae Graff, 1957, A. opisthosellata Graff, 1961, and A. monchicana Trigo et al., 1990, were studied using karyological and electrophoretic techniques. The purpose of the paper is to contribute to our understanding of the relationships existing among the aforementioned taxa. Using isoelectric focusing techniques, the following systems have been investigated initially: PGM (phosphoglucomutase), MDH (malate dehydrogenase), SORDH (sorbitol dehydrogenase), AMY (amylase), EST (esterase), ACP (acid phosphatase) and SOD (superoxide dismutase). The similarity of their karyology and enzymatic polymorphism seems to indicate a close relationship among the taxa studied. Different populations belonging to the same taxa show differences regarding their electrophoretic patterns as great as populations belonging to different taxa. This evidence suggests that the species studied can hardly be considered as different species.