Antigenic characterization of Chrysomyia bezziana and Chrysomyia megacephala larvae and detection of cross reacting proteins^†

First and 3^rd instar larvae of both Chrysomyia bezziana and Chrysomyia megacephala were used as antigenic materials. The 1^st instar larval homogenates were extracted in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing phenylmethyl sulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), whereas the 3^rd instar larval homogenates were extracted sequentially in 3 different media viz. Tris-HCL, ethylenediamine tetra aceticaacid (EDTA), urea, PMSF; PBS, 0.2% sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), 2% Tween 20 and 0.1N NaOH medium, respectively. Larval extracts were resolved on 12% sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Two polypeptides, 59.8 kDa and 14.5 kDa were found to be common in most of the extracts of both the fly larvae. Dot-ELISA conducted with antisera against four different fractions of C. bezziana reacted strongly with their corresponding antigens and also cross reacted with other antigenic preparations of C. bezziana, as well as C. megacephala larvae. Few cross reactive proteins like 59.8 kDa in 3^rd stage larvae and 108.5, 34.3 and 32.2 kDa in 1^st stage larvae of C. bezziana and C. megacephala were observed in western blot experiments.