Abstract
Free and total sialic acid concentrations were determined in the midgut extract of Culex pipiense pipiense mosquitoes infected with Trypanosoma congolense. The mean total sialic acid concentrations were found to be 1.5 to 2 fold higher than the mean free sialic acid concentrations in the midgut extracts of all the groups of the T. congolense infectedC.p. pipiense. Infusion of 10 mg/ml galactose and 10 mg/ml lactose did not change the pattern of this difference but resulted to 1.3 to 1.4 fold decrease in the total sialic acid concentration. The relevance of these findings to the role of sialic acids in the midgut ofT. congolense infected C.p. pipiense mosquitoes is discussed in this paper. Key words: Trypanosoma congolense, Culex pipiense pipiense, sialic acid, midgut.
Highlights
The Culex pipiense pipiense mosquito is a member of the Culex pipiense complex
When all the C.p. pipiense mosquitoes infected with T. congolense were dissected for midgut preparation and observed under the microscope (x400), not a single trypanosome was observed in the midgut
The consistency in the pattern of this 1.5 to 2.0 fold higher mean total sialic acid concentration (Table 1) implies that galactose and lactose infusions did not inhibit the availability of sialic acids in the T. congolense infected C.p. pipiense midgut
Summary
The Culex pipiense pipiense mosquito is a member of the Culex pipiense complex. Apart from serving as a vector for the agent that transmits lymphatic filariasis, this mosquito transmits several viral, bacterial and protozoal infections. (Vinodogradova, 2000). Reports on cultured procyclics Trypanasoma brucei reveal that it acquires the sialic acid unto its surface coat from the environment around it and that such action is being aided by a glycohydrolase (sialidase) that has a unique trans-sialidase activity (Engstler et al, 1993; Schenkman et al, 1992) The aim of this experiment is to examine the presence of sialic acid in the midgut of C.p. pipiense to establish whether it plays any role in the midgut of T. congolense infected C.p. Pipiense mosquitoes with the view to harnessing possible significance of sialic acid to the infection biology of C.p. Pipiense mosquitoes
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