Characterization of serum immunoglobulins in a chondrostean fish, Acipenser baeri

The euglobulin fraction of sturgeon (Acipenser baeri) serum was analyzed using electrophoretic and immunoblotting techniques. The major protein of this fraction is an IgM-like molecule composed of equimolar 70-kDa glycosylated H chains and 26-30 kDa L chains. In the absence of a reducing agent, the L and H polypeptides may form (mu 2L2)n high molecular weight polymers, mu 2L2 170-kDa units or L2 dimers. These different bonding patterns suggest some structural heterogeneity in the distribution of cysteine residues along the sturgeon Ig chains. The H chain N-terminal sequence indicates significant homologies with the conserved VHIII subgroup. Heavy chains antigenically different from the 70-kDa H chain were not detected, suggesting that IgM is the only Ig class synthesized by this sturgeon species.