Esterase D in Cebus apella from the Amazonian region.

Research programs involving the study of genetic variation of proteins have been carried out both in humans and catarrhine primates but rarely in New World species. Considering the great possibilities offered by protein variations as genetic markers in systematic and evolutionary studies in this group of organisms, the authors are specially interested in the investigation of genetic polymorphisms of blood proteins in Amazonian primates. In this paper we describe the electrophoretic patterns of erythrocyte esterases obtained from blood samples of 57 Cebus apella specimens. Blood hemolysates from Cebus display four main set of bands in azo-coupled stained gels. These bands are identified as esterases P, A1, A2 and B by their electrophoretic migration, substrate specificity and eserine reaction. The use of the fluorogenic reagent 4-methylumbelliferyl acetate revealed the presence of a fifth set of enzymes not detected by the azo-coupled staining method. This set of enzymes, probably a polymorphic genetic system, was named ESD as in humans.