Discrete dissolved and particulate proteins in oceanic waters

• Published in: Limnology and Oceanography
• Main Authors: Tanoue, Eiichiro, Ishii, Masao, Midorikawa, Takashi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1996
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Ocean
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.1996.41.6.1334; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.1996.41.6.1334; https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1996.41.6.1334

Dissolved and particulate proteins were extracted from samples of surface seawater collected from the equatorial area, through the Indian Ocean, to the Antarctic Ocean. Dissolved proteins were also observed in waters of the equatorial Pacific. Dissolved and particulate proteins with a wide range of molecular masses were detected by sodium dodecylsulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE). The particulate proteins were made up of many background proteins of overlapping molecular weight, which caused uniform staining in the gel. However, distinct bands of individual proteins with apparent molecular masses of ∼66 and 45 kDa were evident among the background proteins. Electrophoretograms of dissolved proteins were quite different from those of the particulate proteins. The dissolved background proteins were not significant, and fewer than 30 proteins were clearly visualized as major dissolved proteins. Dissolved proteins with apparent molecular masses of 48 and 37 kDa were commonly found as major proteins in all samples examined. Such molecular characteristics of dissolved and particulate proteins are consistent with previous results from the North Pacific. Thus, it appears that the processes by which specific proteins from marine organisms are transferred to and accumulated in the pools of dissolved and particulate organic matter are identical throughout the world’s oceans.