Homogenates from 5 species of Trypanosomatids were screened for the presence of a series of acid hydrolases. The insect flagellae, Crithidia sp., contains 5 enzymes reminiscent of plant parasitism, which were absent from or of very low specific activity in parasites of the genera, Trypanosoma and Leishmania. The latter mammalian parasites, on the other hand, exhibited higher acid proteinase and...

Incubation of Crithidia fasciculata cells with [U-’“C] glucose led to the synthesis of Man-P-dolichol but not of Glc-P-dolichol. The main and largest dolicho1-P-Plinked oligosaccharide formed was Man7GlcNAcz whether labeling was performed in 5 mM sodium pyruvate or 5.5 mM glucose. The protein-linked, endo-j3-N-acetylglucosaminidase H-sensitive oligosaccharides isolated from mature glycoprote...

Cutaneous leishmaniasis has various phenotypic aspects consisting of polymorphic amastigotes with different genetic ranges. Samples were collected from suspected patients of Khuzestan province. Prepared smears were stained, scaled, and measured using ocular micrometer. The Cyt b, ITS-rDNA, and microsatellite genes of Leishmania were amplified and Leishmania species were identified by molecular ...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) play a critical role in global food production as pollinators of numerous crops. Recently, honey bee populations in the United States, Canada, and Europe have suffered an unexplained increase in annual losses due to a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Epidemiological analysis of CCD is confounded by a relative dearth of bee pathogen field studies. T...

On the basis of the unsaturated fatty acids which they synthesize, protists can be grouped in a meaningful way. Thus, the unsaturated fatty acids of the true slime mold are identical with the unsaturated fatty acids of the soil amoebae Acanthumoeba and Hartmannella but have no resemblance to those of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium. Among the zooflagellates, Leishmania enriettii and Leish...

Six nitrogen-, sulfur- and cyclopropane-containing derivatives of cholestanol were examined as inhibitors of growth and sterol biosynthesis in the trypanosomatid protozoan Crithidia fasciculata. The concentrations of inhibitors in the culture medium required for 50% inhibition of growth were 0.32 microM for 24-thia-5 alpha,20 xi-cholestan-3 beta-ol (2), 0.009 microM for 24-methyl-24-aza-5 alpha...

A stable 100-kD complex from mitochondria of Leishmania tarentolae containing two RNA-binding proteins, Ltp26 and Ltp28, was identified by cross-linking to unpaired 4-thiouridine nucleotides in a partially duplex RNA substrate. The genes were cloned and expressed and the complex was reconstituted from recombinant proteins in the absence of RNA or additional factors. The Ltp26 and Ltp28 proteins...