Absorption of Water and Nuclear Lens Protein by Nuclear Lens Tissue

Intrinsic water and soluble protein were removed from insoluble nuclear lens tissues of bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, and squid. These lens tissues were then used to absorb water and protein from extracts of nuclear tissue from these species. The quantity and type of absorption between the tunas were similar; between the tunas and squid, dissimilar. This indicates that nuclear lens tissue can be used to demonstrate both close and distant phylogenetic relationships. THERE ARE three features of the eye lens nucleus which suggest that this tissue would make a good absorbent of protein in solution: (1 ) some of the nuclear protein is usually readily solubilized (Smith, 1969) and so can be removed from the tissue for the absorption of other proteins; (2) the nuclear tissue is relatively dry (Amoore, Bartley, and van Heynigen, 1959; Davson, 1963; Paterson, 1970) and so can readily be ground into small particles, thereby increasing the surface area of the tissue to proteins in solution; and (3) soluble lens protein can interact with, and be bound by, lens fiber membranes after disruption of the lens (Maraini and Fasella, 1970). The present research was conducted to test the possibility that nuclear. lens tissue from different species, after removal of intrinsic water and soluble protein and after grinding, might differentially absorb water and protein in a way that would reveal phylogenetic relationships. The species used were the bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) , yellowfin tuna (T. albacares), and squid Nototodarus hawaiiensis. MATERIALS AND METHODS