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In Situ Hybridization Techniques for Paraffin-Embedded Adult Coral Samples
Published on: August 31, 2018
Shared antigenicity between the polar filaments of myxosporeans and other Cnidaria
Maurice J Ringuette1, Anne Koehler, Sherwin S Desser
1a Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada.
Abstract:
Nematocysts containing coiled polar filaments are a distinguishing feature of members of the phylum Cnidaria. As a first step to characterizing the molecular structure of polar filaments, a polyclonal antiserum was raised in rabbits against a cyanogen bromide-resistant protein extract of mature cysts containing spores of Myxobolus pendula. The antiserum reacted only with proteins associated with extruded polar filaments. Western blot and whole-mount immunohistochemical analyses indicated a conservation of polar filament epitopes between M. pendula and 2 related cnidarians, i.e., the anthozoan, Nematostella vectensis, and the hydrozoan, Hydra vulgaris. This conservation of polar filament epitopes lends further support to a shared affinity between Myxozoa and cnidarians.
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