Identification of Theileria infections in the salivary glands of Hyalomma anatolicum anatoli cum and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus using isoenzyme electrophoresis.

Lysates prepared from the salivary glands of uninfected Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and from ticks of these species infected with 2 strains of Theileria annulata and 1 strain of T. parva respectively have been examined for enzyme polymorphism using thin layer starch gel electrophoresis. Representative enzymes from 3 of the major metabolic pathways, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the glycolytic pathway and the pentose phosphate pathway were investigated. Only 1 enzyme, glucose phosphate isomerase, showed differences between the host cell activity and the parasite activity and also inter- and intraspecific differences between the parasites. This technique represents a useful complement to the present histochemical methods for identification of Theileria infections in the salivary glands of ticks.