Open AccessAcid phosphatase activity of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani : a marker of virulence
Author(s) -
Singla Neena,
Khuller G.K.,
Vinayak V.K.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1992.tb05322.x
Subject(s) - virulence , leishmania donovani , biology , leishmania , microbiology and biotechnology , clone (java method) , phosphatase , acid phosphatase , protozoa , virology , enzyme , leishmaniasis , parasite hosting , biochemistry , visceral leishmaniasis , gene , genetics , world wide web , computer science
Seven cloned lines of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani (UR 6) were isolated by limiting dilution. One clone, UR6‐C25, failed to multiply inside the macrophages of line J774G8 and thus was labelled as avirulent. Another, UR6‐C24, multiplied inside macrophages, had a virulence index as high as 93 ± 9.8 and was thus labelled as highly virulent. The other five clones had variable degree of virulence indices ranging from 46.4 ± 5.8 to 67.6 ± 3.5. No significant difference in the degrees of attachment of virulent and avirulent populations of promastigotes to macrophages was observed, suggesting no difference in the ligand utilised by these populations for attachment to the macrophages. Acid phosphatase activity of cloned promastigotes correlated with the degree of virulence. These data suggest that acid phosphatase activity could be used as a marker to differentiate avirulent from virulent populations of promastigotes of L. donovani .