Cytodifferentiation in the accessory glands of Tenebrio molitor: VIII. Crossed immunoelectrophoretic analysis of terminal differentiation in the postecdysial tubular accessory glands

[摘要] Theterminaldifferentiationofthetubularaccessoryglandsinthepostecdysialmalemealwormbeetle,Tenebriomolitor,ischaracterizedbythesynthesisoffourmajorgroupsofproteinsasanalyzedbyone-dimensionalSDS-poly-acrylamidegelelectrophoresis.Ontwo-dimensionalgels(SDSandpI),twoofthesegroupsofproteins(AandB)areacidicinnatureandhaveapparentMWsof17,500and18,800,respectively.Athirdproteingroup(C)isheterogeneouswithrespecttoisoelectricpoint(neutraltobasic)andhasaMWofabout21,900.Thefourthclassofproteins(D)isdivisibleintotwosubgroupsonthebasisofisoelectricpointsandhasMWsrangingfrom26,400to29,100.Antibodieshavebeenproducedtothesolubleportionofmaturetubularaccessoryglands.Thepreparationsofheterologousantiserahavebeenshowntobeglandspecificfollowingabsorptionwithbean-shapedaccessoryglandhomogenatesandammoniumsulfatefractionation.Thefirstappearanceandsubsequentaccumulationduringpostecdysialmaturationofsomeoftheseproteinshavebeendeterminedbycrossedimmunoelectrophoresis.TheAandBproteinsaredetectedimmunologically,initiallyinthelatepupa,andtheirquantitiesremainunchangeduntilshortlyafteradulteclosion.Duringthe8daysfollowingadulteclosioneachoftheseproteinsincreasesinquantityfrom∼10to∼7000ng.Athirdimmunoreactiveproteinappearsinthe2-dayoldadultandincreasesto∼960ngoverthefollowing6days.TheidentityofthisantigenisuncertainalthoughitmayrepresenteithertheCortheDprotein.Basedoncrossedimmunoelectrophoresis,itisevidentthatatleasttwoofthesetubularaccessoryglandantigensappeartocontributetothespermatophore.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）