Restriction enzyme analysis of mitochondrial DNA of members of the genus Aspergillus as an aid in taxonomy.

Restriction endonuclease patterns of mitochondrial DNA from seven species of the genus Aspergillus (A. nidulans, A. wentii, A. awamori, A. niger, A. oryzae, A. tamarii and A. echinulatus) have been compared in order to test the phylogenetic relationships between these species. The fraction of restriction fragments common between all pairs of species from this set ranged from 0 to 1. The use of this approach for the taxonomy of the genus Aspergillus is discussed. The postulated phylogenetic relationships differ significantly in two cases from the classification of the genus presented by Raper & Fennell (1965).