Trypanosoma brucei: Preparation and some properties of a multienzyme complex catalysing part of the glycolytic pathway

After grinding Trypanosoma brucei with alumina or silicon carbide, it is possible to prepare a multienzyme complex which catalyses the breakdown of glucose to l-glycerol-3-phosphate and 3-phosphoglycerate. The complex sediments with the postnuclear large granule fraction which pellets at 14,500g; it is also eluted in the void volume during Bio-Gel A-5m column chromatography of a cell homogenate. During isopycnic sucrose gradient centrifugation, the multienzyme complex bands at a density of 1.22 g/ml. Because this is the density of T. brucei microbodies, and because Triton X-100 treatment of the material greatly enhances the activities of its component enzymes, we conclude that the multienzyme complex is probably located in the microbodies of the bloodstream long slender forms of T. brucei.