ISSN:
1432-1793
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract Hemolytic capacity was investigated in homogenates of eight species of polychaetes, belonging to five different orders.Nainereis laevigata, Orbinia cuvieri, Cirriformia tentaculata, Notomastus latericeus, Arenicola claparedii andPetaloproctus terricola were collected during February 1990 from the coastal lagoon of Acquatina (Puglia, Italy).Nereis sp. (from the Yellow Sea, Japan) andMarphysa sanguinea (from Venice lagoon, Italy) were both purchased from a retail shop in Lecce (Italy). Homogenates from only three species [Nainereis laevigata andO. cuvieri (family Orbinidae, order Orbinia) andP. terricola (family Maldanidae, order Capitellida)] induced hemolysis in sheep red blood cells. Important differences in hemolytic titers, Ca- or Mg-dependence and in timecourse responses were noted between the three hemolytic species. On the other hand, thermolability and proteinase-inhibitor resistance (with the exception ofO. cuvieri) were features common to all three. Electrophoretic analysis revealed that hemolysis was mediated by apparently only one protein inN. laevigata andP. terricola, with no correlation between them or with the proteins responsible for hemolysis in the oligochaeteEisenia fetida andrei (Lumbricidae). No lytic protein was localized in hemolyticO. cuvieri homogenate, which was also the only homogenate to be partially inhibited by benzamidine, but not by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride or soybean trypsin inhibitor. These results underline the extreme variety existing among the species constituting the polychaete group.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01319818
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