PROTEINS INVOLVED IN THE ATTACHMENT OF A HYPERPARASITE, PASTEURIA-PENETRANS, TO ITS PLANT-PARASITIC NEMATODE HOST, MELOIDOGYNE-INCOGNITA

Proteins extracted from the surface of spores of three populations of Pasteuria penetrans, known to exhibit different levels of attachment to Meloidogyne spp., were compared on SDS-PAGE gels. Silver staining revealed several differences between the populations. Immunoblotting with a polyclonal antibody raised against whole spores of P. penetrans population PP1 revealed a number of quantitative and qualitative differences, but most proteins were conserved. A competitive ELISA was used to show that different populations of spores had different avidities for the antibody. In attachment assays the antibody was also found to prevent spore attachment. The results suggest that differences in the amount and nature of the proteins on the surface of spores may account for differences observed in host specificity. © 1992.