Snail host finding by Fasciola hepatica and Trichobilharzia ocellata: compound analysis of "miracidia-attracting glycoproteins".

The glycoconjugates from snail-conditioned water of Lymnaea truncatula and L. stagnalis which elicit typical host finding behavior in miracidia of Fasciola hepatica and Trichobilharzia ocellata were separated by anion-exchange chromatography and a two-step size-exclusion chromatography. We obtained fractions attractive for the parasites with MW of about 10(6) Da in both snail species. These fractions still contained species-specific information since miracidia responded only to molecules from their respective host snail. Analysis of the amino acid composition from the protein backbone revealed a similar composition in the effective fractions of both snails. Amounts of serine and threonine were higher than 30 mol %, which is typical for mucin-type glycoproteins. The carbohydrate moieties consisted mainly of galactose and fucose, but nine different other monosaccharides also were identified in smaller amounts. The heterogeneity of the molecules was also confirmed by the binding of six different lectins. Because of these characteristics, the effective molecules were termed "miracidia-attracting glycoproteins" (MAGs). MAGs may play an important role for parasite transmission, as they may increase the chance of an encounter between parasite and host and enable the miracidia to discriminate between their specific intermediate host and other unsuitable snail species. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.