Worm Breeder's Gazette 2(2): 12b
These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.
We have been investigating spermatogenesis as a developmental pathway amenable to both biochemical and genetic analyses. We have examined sperm proteins by SDS gel electrophoresis. Isotopically labeled sperm are purified by insemination of non-labeled hermaphrodites. Proteins of the hermaphrodites are fractionated on SDS gels and the banding pattern examined by autoradiography, so that only sperm proteins are visualized. No protein migrates with the same mobility as worm body actin. C. elegans sperm cross-react with rabbit antiactin antibody by immunofluorescence. Experiments are in progress to purify a putative second actin species by DNAase I- affinity chromatography.