Isozyme patterns ofSchistosoma japonicumandS. mansoni

Abstract

Isozyme patterns of six enzymes, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glucosephosphate isomerase, hexokinase, malate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglucomutase were examined in electrophoresed homogenates of adult male worms ofSchistosoma japonicumandS. mansoni. In general, enzyme patterns obtained from the parasite homogenates differed from that of host (mouse) blood and muscle, indicating that electrophoretic patterns from parasite extracts are most probably of parasite origin. Adult male and femaleS. mansoniworms yielded identical patterns. However, all six enzyme patterns showed distinct differences betweenS. japonicumandS. mansoni. These results suggest thatS. japonicumis clearly distinguishable fromS. mansoniat the molecular level.