Purification and partial characterization of an IgM-like serum immunoglobulin from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

An IgM-like immunoglobulin was isolated from pooled sera collected from healthy Atlantic salmon. The immunoglobulin was purified by means of gel filtration followed by ion-exchange chromatography. It eluted from the ion-exchange column as two distinct peaks, but the two IgMs seems to be identical in their molecular natures except for net charge. The molecular weight of the unreduced (native) IgM was determined to be approximately 800 kilo Daltons (kD) when estimated by dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). However, when the molecular weight of the native IgM was estimated by gel filtration, a molecular weight of 1000 kD was obtained. Furthermore, the molecular weights of the heavy and the light chains were estimated by SDS-PAGE analysis to be about 72 and 27 kD respectively. The amount of IgM was found to range from 80 to 130 mg/100 ml serum. Isoelectric focusing demonstrated that the major part of the IgM molecules focused between pH 5 and pH 6.