BIOCHEMICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF INTERMICROTUBULAR CEMENT IN THE FEEDING APPARATUS OF PHAGOTROPHIC EUGLENOIDS - ENTOSIPHON, PERANEMA, AND PLOEOTIA

A monoclonal antibody (IIID12) obtained from mice immunized against the entire Entosiphon cytoskeleton highlights the feeding apparatus of Entosiphon, Peranema, and Ploeotia by IF. IGS at the ultrastructural level shows that it labels the cementing material surrounding the microtubular bundles in the three species studied. In Entosiphon additional structures, such as the supplementary plaque, the scaffold structure and the lenticular structure or canal thickening, are also detected by the antibody. Immunoblotting analysis after SDS-PAGE reveals a positive reaction with this antibody to the 58 and 66 kDa protein bands in Entosiphon, 82 and 84 kDa in Peranema, and 56 and 60 kDa in Ploeotia. These results demonstrate biochemical homologies in the proteins of the cement material in the three heteronematal euglenoids studied. The possible role of these proteins in microtubule assembly and stabilization is discussed, as well as the role of the cementing material in the mode of the feeding apparatus motion during the ingestion of food.