Immunodiffusion comparisons of the serum albumins of marine and land iguanas from different islands in the Galapagos Archipelago

Abstract

Serum albumin of the Santa Cruz Island Galapagos marine iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus, was isolated by ion-exchange chromatography of an acid-precipitable alcohol-soluble fraction of whole serum. Antigenic differences could not be resolved among the albumins of several morphologically diverse marine iguana populations in agar double-diffusion assay using rabbit antiserum to the albumin of A. cristatus of Santa Cruz Island. The antigenic composition of the serum albumins of Iguana and Conolophus were similar, relative to Amblyrhynchus, although Conolophus albumin possessed determinants cross-reactive with marine iguana albumin which were not found in Iguana.