Study of molecular karyotypes in Amoeboaphelidium protococcarum, the endotrophic parasite of chlorophycean alga Scenedesmus

On the basis of the pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) technique, molecular karyotypes in Amoeboaphelidium protococcarum (the endotrophic parasite of chlorophycean algae, which combines protozoon- and fungus-type characters) were determined. Molecular karyotypes in the strains X1, X5, and X31, which differ in the host range and originate from Western, Central, and Eastern Euro-Asia respectively, demonstrate the intrageneric polymorphism—from 7 to 13 chDNA bands—with the estimated molecular size of 0.3–2.2 Mb were resolved, and the genome size was determined to be between 7.4 and 10.2 Mb. The molecular karyotype pattern in A. protococcarum is different from that in Protozoa. The low-grade distinction in molecular karyotypes between X1 and X5, on one hand, and high-grade distinction between X1/X5 and X31, on the other hand, makes it possible to place X31 in a separate taxon.