Vitelline coat of Unio elongatulus egg: I. Isolation and biochemical characterization

In this study we isolated and purified the vitelline coat (vc) of Unio elongatulus eggs in order to investigate its protein and carbohydrate composition. SDS dissolved up to 80% of the vitelline coat protein content whereas 100 mM Ammonimum acetate (AA) at pH 11 and 1 mM lithium diiodosalicylate (LISH) dissolved only 40-50%. The ability of extremes of pH or LIS to solubilize the vitelline coats on eggs was then investigated. The results showed that pH from 7 to 11 progressively dissolved the vitelline coats without gross damage to the oocytes. SDS-PAGE of the solubilized material revealed only two components corresponding to the main components revealed by SDS-PAGE of the isolated vcs. These peptides have an apparent MW of 220 and 180 kD, are ConA positive, and seem to be connected to each other to form polycomponents. The latter feature is suggested by the electrophoretic pattern of the solubilized material under nondenaturing conditions.