Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-lrblm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-05T19:55:03.201Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Studies on phosphatase systems of cestodes II. Studies on Cysticercus tenuicollis and Moniezia expansa (adult)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

David A. Erasmus
David A. Erasmus
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University College, Cardiff
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

1. Histochemical and biochemical studies have demonstrated the presence and distribution of phosphatases in Cysticercus tenuicollis and adult Moniezia expansa.

2. Biochemical tests have differentiated the following types of optimum phosphatase activity: Cysticercus tenuicollis, acid phosphatase, pH 5·0 (approx.); alkaline phosphatase, pH 10·0 (approx.); Moniezia expansa, acid plaosphatase, pH 5·5 (approx.); alkaline phosphatase, pH 7·0–8·0 and pH 10·0–11·0.

3. Attempts to locate the enzymes by normal histochemical methods were unsuccessful in the case of Cysticercus tenuicollis. In adult Moniezia, acid and alkaline phosphatase (both types) occurred in the cuticle. Alkaline phosphatase (pH 10·0–11·0) only was present in the tunicae enclosing the ovary, vitelline gland and testes. This enzyme was also the only one present in the interproglottidal glands, in the wall of the developing uterus and in the subcuticular cells.

4. Tests for all types of phosphatase activity showed that cuticular activity in Moniezia originated in the walls of an extensive branched system of channels. This system was demonstrable in the cuticle of fixed and unfixed material.

5. Incubation experiments with entire living Moniezia showed that substrates external to the body were capable of being broken down. Similar tests with Cysticercus tenuicollis showed that at least some of the alkaline phosphatase activity recorded by the biochemical tests was located in the cuticle.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 47 , Issue 1-2 , June 1957 , pp. 81 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1957

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Daugherty, J. W. (1955). The effect of fasting and alloxan treatment of the host on the glycogen gradient in Hymenolepis diminuta. J. Parasit. 41 (Abstr. 58), 30.Google Scholar
Erasmus, D. A. (1957). Studies on phosphatase systems of cestodes. I. The enzymes present in Taenia pisiformis (cysticercus and adult). Parasitology, 47, 70–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glick, D. (1949). Techniques of Histo- and Cytochemistry, 1st ed.531 pp., 159 text-figs. New York: Interscience Publishers.Google Scholar
Hopkins, C. A. (1952). Studies on cestode metabolism. II. The utilization of glycogen by Schistocephalus solidus in vitro. J. Exp. Parasit. 1, 196–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearse, E. A. G. (1953). Histochemistry, Theoretical and Applied, 1st ed.530 pp. London: J. & A. Churchill Ltd.Google Scholar
Read, C. P. (1950). The acquisition of isotopically labelled inorganic phosphate by the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta with some remarks on the host-parasite relationship. J. Parasit. 36, 34–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, C. P. (1951). Studies on the enzymes and intermediate products of carbohydrate degradation in the cestode Hymenolepis diminuta. J. Exp. Parasit. 1, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, W. M. (1940). Some effects of short starvation periods upon the fowl cestode Raillietina cesticillus. J. Parasit. (suppl.), 26, 16.Google Scholar
Reid, W. M. (1942). Certain nutritional requirements of the fowl cestode Raillietina cesticlllus. J. Parasit. 28, 319–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salisbury, L. E. & Anderson, R. J. (1939). Concerning the chemical composition of Cysticercus fasciolaris. J. biol. Chem. 129, 505–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smyth, J. D. (1947). The physiology of tapeworms. Biol. Rev. 22, 214–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smyth, J. D. (1949). Studies on tapeworm physiology. IV. Further observations on the development of Ligula intestinalis in vitro. J. Exp. Biol. 26, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smyth, J. D. (1955). Problems relating to the in vitro cultivation of pseudophyllidean cestodes from egg to adult. Rev. ibér. Parasit. Tomo Extraordinario.Google Scholar
Wardle, R. A. (1937). The physiology of the sheep tapeworm Moniezia expansa Blanchard. Canad. J. Res. D, 15, 117–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar