11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

Poster Mini-Symposium 5: Functional Biology of Corals and Coral Symbiosis: Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Physiology
5.108
Differential Expression Of Soluble And Membrane-Bound Proteins in Soft Corals
Ernestina TENTORI* 1 , Murray THOMSON 2
1 Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada,
Mexico, 2 Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
The site specific morphology of soft corals suggests that total protein and specific protein
content may differ throughout parts of the organism. There are very few studies on the
protein constituents of soft corals tissues, they all have extracted proteins using simple
Tris-HCl buffers. These type of buffers should be efficient at extracting soluble, cytosolic
proteins but are likely to be inefficient at extracting membrane-bound proteins. This is the
first study comparing variations of protein content and protein profiles within colonial
cnidarians.
Sarcophyton sp and Capnella gaboensis specimens, were sectioned into colony regions
with different physiological potential, judged by their proximity to endosymbiotic algae
and/or direct contact with the external medium. The tissue sections were homogenized in
two different buffers, either NP40, that contained Nonidet P40 detergent and sodium
deoxycholate or TRIS that did not. SDS-PAGE analysis of proteins showed significant
intracolonial differences of protein content (p