Allogeneic recognition in sponges: Development, structure, and nature of the nonmerging front in Ephydatia fluviatilis

Whenever individuals of the freshwater sponge Ephydatia fluviatilis belonging to different strains come into contact, they reject each other by building a nonmerging front. The present work describes the development, the structure, and the nature of the barrier secreted between two individuals. The observations reported give unequivocal data about the collagen nature of the incompatibility barrier. First, ultrastructural investigations reveal the presence of fibrils and microfibrils which are, respectively, typical of collagen and spongin. Second, incorporation of tritiated proline, a characteristic precursor of collagen and related products, is particularly intense in the front. The involvement of several cell types in the barrier formation is discussed. The allogeneic incompatibility reaction between E. fluviatilis individuals appears very close to the process of allograft chronic rejection that we formerly described for some marine sponges. Both phenomena are basically analogous to the process which fixes to and isolates the sponges from their substrate.