Nature, origin and fate of major haemolymph proteins in Calliphora

Abstract

During the development of the brown blowfly, Calliphora stygia, four quantitatively major proteins are found in the plasma of haemolymph. These four proteins are immunologically, electrophoretically, and structurally distinct and do not share any common subunits. In the late feeding larva the total protein concentration of plasma is 200 mg/ml and the haemolymph volume is 53 μl. At pupariation these values are 108 mg/ml and 40 μl, falling in the newly emerged adult to 29 mg/ml and 22 μl respectively. Of the three major protein species (arbitrarily designated A, B, C) in larval and adult plasma, only protein A appears to be synthesized in both a larval and an adult tissue. Protein D is found in adults at emergence and represents an exclusively adult product.