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ABSTRACT
The deuteromycetes Dendryphiella arenaria and D. salina occur on macroalgae and plant debris in marine habitats. Strains from 17 locations in Canada, New England, the Southeast, Pacific Northwest and Europe were isolated from beaches and salt marshes or obtained from culture collections. The relationships between the species and the degree of genetic variability among different populations were studied. Starch-gel electrophoresis was used to analyze electromorph variation from 11 enzyme systems encoded by 14 presumptive structural loci. Strains of D. salina from different localities had identical electromorph patterns except for 3 strains isolated from Shelter Cove, California. All strains identified as D. arenaria differed from D. salina for four enzyme systems. Our data demonstrate that consistent genetic differences exist between the taxa and support the retention of two species. Some strains could not be placed with certainty in either species because of overlapping morphological characteristics; however, electrophoretic results indicate that all of these belonged to D. arenaria. The genetic variability observed was very low compared to other organisms including fungi. Our electrophoretic data indicate that both D. arenaria and D. salina are generalists and it is unlikely they have teleomorphs.