Unusual electrophoretic patterns for phosphoglucomutase and fumarase in a population of Lecithochirium rufoviride (Trematoda: Hemiuridae), a parasite of Conger conger.

Abstract

Electrophoretic analyses of phosphoglucomutase (PGM) and fumarase (FH) in a population of Lecithochirium rufoviride parasitizing Conger conger, revealed 2 independent activity zones for each enzyme on starch gel electrophoresis. However, some individuals exhibited only 1 activity zone for 1 or both enzymes. The banding patterns observed strongly suggest that (1) PGM is coded by 2 polymorphic loci, Pgm-1 (expressed in all individuals) with allelic frequencies not significantly different from those expected under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and Pgm-2 (expressed in a subset of individuals); and (2) FH is coded by 2 loci, Fh-2 (monomorphic and expressed in all individuals) and Fh-1 (expressed in a subset of individuals). A high degree of concordance (88.75%) was observed between the expression and nonexpression of Pgm-2 and Fh-1. The most likely explanations for these findings are either variation in enzyme expression with developmental stage or the presence of null alleles at high frequencies in the population.