IMMUNOCHEMICAL DETECTION OF ADP-RIBOSYLATING ENZYMES IN THE ARCHAEON SULFOLOBUS-SOLFATARICUS

Polyclonal antibodies raised against eukaryotic mono(ADPribose)transfe rase and poly(ADPribose)polymerase were used to test the presence of a ntigenic determinants in a crude extract of Sulfolobus solfataricus, a thermophilic archaeon. Samples from eukaryotic (bull testis) and bact erial (E. coli) sources were analysed for comparison. All tested antib odies reacted with the sulfolobal sample with a specificity comparable to that of the eukaryotic preparation, as revealed by ELISA test, act ivity assays in the presence of antibodies and immunoblot experiments. After electrophoresis and western blot of sulfolobal proteins, a band at a mass around 50 kDa was detected by immunostaining.