Internal lectin binding patterns in the nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans, Panagrolaimus superbus and Acrobeloides maximus

Using ten different lectins, the binding patterns were studied in three free-living rhabditid nematodes : Caenorhabditis elegans, Panagrolaimus superbus, and Acrobeloides maximus. Although all the nematode tissues showed binding by one or more of the lectins used, considerable differences were noticed between the three nematode species. Yolk, four of the coelomocytes, and the oocytes bind most often with the lectins used. Although the intestinal brush border interacts with a lot of foreign materials, it stained only with few lectins. The lectin binding pattern of the yolk indicated that, at the time of incorporation of the yolk in embryos or shortly thereafter, a processing of the yolk occurs resulting in changes in lectin-binding characteristics of the yolk protein.