Isoenzyme patterns of pathogenic and nonpathogenic thermophilic Naegleria strains by isoelectric focusing

Pernin P. 1984. Isoenzyme patterns of pathogenic and nonpathogenic thermophilic Naegleria strains by isoelectric focusing. International Journal for Parasitology 14: 459–465. The isoenzymatic patterns of different strains of Naegleria were studied by isoelectric focusing (I.E.F.) on polyacrylamide gels for seven enzymatic activities (leucine amino peptidase; lactate dehydrogenase; glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase; propionyl esterase; glucose phosphate isomerase; malate dehydrogenase; acid phosphatase), two of which (lactate dehydrogenase and glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase) were being investigated for the first time. The three pathogenic N. fowleri strains share a common pattern for most of the enzymes tested except for glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase, and thus form a very homogeneous species, while thermophilic nonpathogenic strains show more heterogeneity particularly for leucine amino peptidase and glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase. I.E.F. must be considered as a supplementary and rapid method for the identification of N. fowleri and as a powerful tool to demonstrate the complexity of different genera of free-living amoebas.