Enzyme polymorphism of freshwater fish trypanosomes and its use for strain identification.

Sixteen strains of trypanosomes isolated from the blood of 10 freshwater fish species (all but one from South Bohemia) were characterized by enzyme analysis using disc electrophoresis in 5% polyacrylamide gel. Six enzymes were selected: ADH, LDH, MDH, ME, G6PDH and GPI. The most variable were ADH and LDH, whereas MDH, G6PDH and GPI showed the same pattern in all strains analysed. Cluster analysis indicated a very high degree of similarity among strains, even those isolated from phylogenetically distant hosts. Moreover, no correlation between enzyme pattern and host species was found.