A monoclonal antibody that tracks endospore formation in the microsporidium Nosema bombycis

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 26;10(3):e0121884. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121884. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Nosema bombycis, the first identified microsporidium, is a destructive pathogen of the silkworm Bombyx mori and causes severe worldwide economic losses in sericulture. Major microsporidian structural proteins, such as the spore wall protein (SWP), are known to be involved in host invasion. In this study, the reactivity of the monoclonal antibody 2B10 was tested against an endospore protein of N. bombycis with a molecular weight size at 50-kDa, using Western blotting. The antigen was purified after immunoprecipitation and was further identified as EOB13320 according to MALDI-TOF MS assay. We found that EOB13320 locates to the surface of the different developmental stages of the parasite, mostly the sporoblast stage and the mature spore after immunoelectron microscopy examination. EOB13320 was also widely distributed in the developing endospore, especially at the sporoblast stage. This endospore protein also accumulated in the cytoplasm of both the merogony and sporoblast stages. These results imply that EOB13320 detected by monoclonal antibody 2B10 is expressed throughout the life cycle of the parasite, notably during the stage when the endospore is formed, and that this protein is important for spore-coat formation and parasite maintenance. Our study could be instrumental in the understanding of spore wall formation and will help to gain greater insight into the biology of this parasite.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antibodies, Fungal / immunology
  • Antibodies, Fungal / metabolism
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal* / immunology
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal* / metabolism
  • Antigens, Fungal / chemistry
  • Antigens, Fungal / immunology
  • Antigens, Fungal / metabolism
  • Fungal Proteins / chemistry
  • Fungal Proteins / immunology
  • Fungal Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression
  • Molecular Imaging*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nosema / physiology*
  • Nosema / ultrastructure
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Spores, Fungal*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Fungal
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Antigens, Fungal
  • Fungal Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Foundation for the Author of National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of PR China (FANEDD 201473) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant number: SWU114011, SWU114015, and XDJK2015C012). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.