Sialic acids in gastropods

The occurrence of N-acetylneuraminic acid and N- glycolylneuraminic acid residues in preparations of the slug Arion lusitanicus (Gastropoda) was determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate electrophoresis of the proteins followed by lectin blots stained with the sialic acid specific lectin from. Maackia amurensis, by the sensitivity of this binding to sialidase from Clostridium perfringens, by specific fluorescent labelling of sialic acids with 1,2-diamino-4,5-methylenedioxy benzene, by the determination of the sensitivity to sialate-pyruvate-lyase, by comigration with standards on high performance anion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection and by identification of the typical masses in the fragmentation patterns of the trimethylsilyl derivatives after gas chromatography. It is the first time sialic acids are identified in gastropods. (C) 2001 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.