Abstract

Glaucidium, a monotypic genus indigenous to Japan, has been considered to be related to Paeonia, Hydrastis, Podophyllum or members of the Hypericales. Immunological analysis of seed protein was employed to illuminate the phylogenetic relationships of Glaucidium. Antisera against 11S-globulin small polypeptides were prepared from seed extracts of Glaucidium palmatum, Aquilegia buergeriana and Chelidonium japonicum, and the immunoreactivity was detected by the Western blotting method. The immunological affinity indicates that Glaucidium is more closely related to the Ranunculaceae than to Paeonia or the Hypericales.