ABSTRACTTwo species of the colonial green flagellate family Volvocaceae are worldwide in distribution yet exhibit contrasting species structure. Geographically disparate isolatesof Gonium pectoraleMueller can interbreed while isolates ofPandorina morumBory behave quite differently. More than 20 sexually isolated subpopulations occur within this species; these have been termed “syngens” (sensu Sonneborn). Because prezygotic barriers to mating cause intersyngen pairings to fail, breeding analyses cannot be used to estimate genetic relatedness among the syngens of P.morum.DNA comparisons provide an alternative method of assessing genetic relatedness. We compared the nucleotide sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal repeat among clones of P.morumand ofG. pectorale.Members of syngens ofP. morumwith distribution restricted to one small geographical area show great similarity. Likewise, members of any syngen of worldwide distribution show near uniformity, even those from different continents. However, the ITS sequence of each syngen differs from that of other syngens. In contrast,G. pectorale, which has an ITS region that is remarkably uniform throughout the world, appears to consist of a single syngen within North America and Europe by mating tests. The molecular data are in complete conformity with previous syngen assignment. Because the latter is based on mating affinity, with two complementary mating types per syngen, the evolution of new mating type pairs appears to be the basis of microevolution in these algae. We infer that eitherP. morumis a more ancient species thanG. pectoraleor thatP. morumhas a less stable genome. In either case, the biogeographic distribution of certain syngens may reflect climatological changes of the p