[The role of alpha-amylase of symbiotic microflora in digestion by lower cestodes and their fish hosts].

The symbiotic microflora associated with the digestive-transport surfaces of the pike intestine and the parasitic cestodes Triaenophorus nodulosus proved capable of the initial stages of carbohydrate hydrolysis mediated by alpha-amylase. The products of hydrolysis by alpha-amylase can be used by both the host and the parasite, which decreases energy expenditures of the macroorganisms. The levels of the bacterial alpha-amylase activity are comparable to those of the analogous enzyme absorbed on the mucosa of the intestine and on the cestode tegument, which indicates a considerable contribution of enzymes of the symbiotic microflora to digestion by the host and the parasite. Apparently, this contribution depends on the fish diet.