Genetic characterization of three strains of Hymenolepis diminuta at 39 enzyme loci.

The technique of allozyme electrophoresis was applied to three strains of Hymenolepis diminuta to distinguish between three hypotheses [(1) multiple species, (2) genetically distinct founder stocks and (3) response to differential selection among similar stocks] proposed to account for metabolic differences among strains. There was no evidence from the 39 enzyme loci established that the three strains represented more than one species. In the absence of knowledge of the population structure of H. diminuta in the wild, electrophoretic data herein could not distinguish between the latter hypotheses. Nevertheless, all three strains were distinguishable on electrophoretic profiles and allelic similarities between strains question the view of their proposed origins.