Implications of seed proteins in Brassicaceae systematics

Seed proteins of eleven species of Brassicaceae were investigated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In total 50 different bands were identified. Some of the bands are characteristic and represent constant markers of each species, which allow the unequivocal identification of their electrophoregram. The obtained data have been treated numerically using the cluster analysis method of unweighed pair group (UPGMA). The electrophoregram gives support to the idea that the tribe Sisymbrieae is an unnatural group and suggests its merge with the tribe Brassiceae. On the other hand the distinct position of Zilla spinosa in the dendrograms supports the traditional treatment of this taxon as a monotypic subtribe Zillinae.