MANIPULATION OF BIOMPHALARIA GLABRATA (SAY) (GASTROPODA: PLANORBIDAE) HAEMOCYTES IN VITRO

Abstract

The propensity of molluscan haemocytes to clump irreversibly upon mixing in suspension, together with their strong adherence to many substrates, compromises many efforts to obtain plasma-free or treated cells for subsequent use in experimental protocols. An anti-clumping buffer developed for use with haemocytes from the gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis was tested for its effectiveness with cells from Biom-phalaria glabrata. While we were unable to obtain sufficient numbers of viable haemocytes for subsequent experimentation after centrifugation, this divalent cation-chelating buffer induced rounding of adherent cells monolayered on glass. Thus, cells washed in physiological buffers could subsequently be retrieved as monodispersed suspensions. Such haemocytes retained some phagocytic activity, with levels of uptake improved when cells were held in buffer with excess divalent cations before addition of target particles.