The contribution of a partial tricarboxylic acid cycle to volatile end-products in thiabendazole-resistant and susceptible Trichostrongylus colubriformis.

Acetate, propionate, ethanol and propanol were the predominant end-products released during incubation of a thiabendazole resistant and a susceptible strain of Trichostrongylus colubriformis. The parasites in all the incubations appeared to be deficient in reducing equivalents if the end-products arose from the classical catabolic pathway through fumarate reductase (EC 1.3.1.6). Possible alternative pathways for accounting for redox balance, including beta-oxidation, the pentose phosphate pathway and amino acid metabolism were investigated. Palmitate was oxidised aerobically. Radiolabelled tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, citrate and alpha-ketoglutarate, were decarboxylated to 14CO2 indicating that at least a partial tricarboxylic acid cycle to succinyl-CoA via alpha-ketoglutarate operates both anaerobically and aerobically in T. colubriformis. These data and the pattern of end-products suggest the presence of two pathways to propanol and propionate either through fumarate reduction or alpha-ketoglutarate oxidation. T. colubriformis may apportion carbon flow through these pathways to maintain a stable redox ratio. Similar calculations on previously reported data indicate that both pathways may also operate in Haemonchus contortus. Exposure of resistant T. colubriformis to thiabendazole under anaerobic conditions caused an increased accumulation of end-products, especially propanol, in the incubation medium. The alpha-ketoglutarate pathway may lower the dependence of the parasite on the fumarate reductase route which is sensitive to thiabendazole. The operation of the alpha-ketoglutarate pathway, with propanol as an end-product, may provide a mechanism for regulating redox balance in trichostrongylidae.