Physical biochemical properties of IgM from a teleost fish.

Teleost fish are able to produce IgM class antibody, as are other vertebrates. When the teleost fish Oreochromis niloticus was immunized with bovine serum albumin (BSA), it produced antibody to BSA with an average avidity of 7.4 x 10(8)/M. Thus, dissociation of antigen-antibody complexes only occurred at conditions of < pH 2.5, > pH 11, > 4M NaI or > 4M urea, demonstrating high stability of the complex. Western blot analyses further showed the high specificity of the antibody to BSA. In contrast to mammals, when the fish was challenged with multiple protein antigens, it produced antibody only to the major component but not to others. The antibody generated to a specific antigen accounted for up to 1.1% of whole serum protein or 7.0% of whole immunoglobulin. We conclude (1) the systemic antibody response in teleost fish may be an 'all or nothing' response, which is different from that in mammals; (2) the quality (specificity and affinity) of the antibody produced is similar to that of mammals. The findings not only reveal a quite different strategy of immune response in fish, but also raise the possibility of technical application.