Travassos (1937) in his monograph on Trichostrongylidae Leiper, 1912, deals with Trichostrongyles belonging to 91 genera under 13 subfamilies of which 4 are new. He places Molineus Cameron, 1923, along with 33 other genera in the type subfamily Trichostrongylinae Leiper, 1908. Subsequently Skrjabin and Schulz (1937) erected the subfamily Molineinae with Molineus as type.

Employing papain as the enzyme and agarose bound Ricinus communis agglutinin as the affinity gel, a glycoprotein has been isolated and purified from the surface of Ascaridia galli. The glycoprotein shows an apparent molecular weight of 68 kilo daltons and contains fucose, galactose, rhamnose and glucosamine as sugar moieties. Only 2% of its entire molecule has been found to possess α-helical configuration.

C-banding has been performed on Dictyocaulus filaria using both original and modified techniques. The karyotype is reported based on C band observations. The existence of large heterochromatic blocks appears to be the cause of the low chiasmata frequency.

Resistance to challenge infection with Trichostrongylus colubriformis was studied in an outbred strain of guinea-pigs. Resistance was conferred by previous infections of 50 or 100 infective larvae and by intraperitoneal, intramuscular and subcutaneous administration of dialysed transfer factor prepared from guinea-pigs infected with T. colubriformis, by intraperitoneal administration of transfer factor prepared from the blood of sheep infected with T. colubriformis and on one of three occasions using transfer factor prepared from guinea-pigs which had not been infected with T. colubriformis. No significant resistance was transferred by administration of antigen prepared from adult T. colubriformis, or by non-dialysed transfer factor, or by dialysed transfer factor prepared from T. colubriformis-infected guinea-pig tissue which had been stored for several months at −20°C.

Female ICR mice, 5 to 6 weeks old, were exposed by stomach tube to 25 metacercarial cysts of Echinostoma caproni per mouse. At 14 days post-exposure, mice were fed by stomach tube clorsulon (1000 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg) or rafoxanide (50 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg) dissolved in dimethy lsulphoxide (DMSO) carrier and mebendazole (1000mg/kg and 500 mg/kg) or arprinocid (100 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg) suspended in a2:1 polyethylene glycol (PEG)/DMSO carrier. All drugs were obtained from Meerck In. (Rahway, New Jersey, USA) and only single dose regimes were used. Experimentally infected mice that served as controls received either DMSO or 2:1 PEG/DMSO carriers or were not given the carrier. Mice were necropsied 15v, 16, 18 and 20 days post-exposure to worms. Doses of 100 mg/kg of clorsulon and 50 mg/kg of rafoxanide were 100% effective in eliminating the echinostomes on day 1 post-administration of the anthelmintics. Mebendazole and arprinocid were ineffection in eliminating worms at 1 or 2 days post drug daministration.

The life history of Grysoma indica n.sp., a psilostome trematode, obtained experimentally in ducklings, after feeding with metacercariae occurring in the snail Thiara tuberculata, is elucidated. Natural infections with cercariae were found in T. tuberculata, collected from a freshwater stream at Visakhapatnam, India. Metacercarial cysts were found in the same and other species of snails in the locality. The new species differs from other species of the genus in the sucker proportions, position of the testes and distribution of the vitelline follicles.

Thiamine pyrophosphatase and nucleoside diphosphatase have been studied histochemically in Raillietina (Raillietina) johri. Thiamine pyrophosphatase activity has been observed in the tegument, subtegumental muscle, subtegumental cells, medullary parenchyma, excretory canal and various reproductive structures like testes, ovary, vas deferens, spermatozoa and vitellaria. Eggs exhibit moderate enzyme activity. Various nucleoside diphosphates have been found to be hydrolyzed by thiamine pyrophosphatase. CaC12, MgC12 and MnC12 each activated the enzyme at a final concentration of 6 mM whereas cysteine, reduced glutathione and PCMB inhibited the enzyme activity at a final concentration of 10 mM, 10 mM and 20mM, respectively. KCN and NaF had no effect on the enzyme staining at concentration as high as 50 mM and 30 mM, respectively. Possible roles of the enzyme in the parasite have been discussed.

Adult trematodes identified as Galactosomum ussuriense Oshmarin, 1963 were recorded from the intestine of Sterna hirundo and Larus brunnicephalus from Visakhapatnam, India. The occurrence of metacercaria of this species in inshore and offshore fishes is discussed in relation to the ecology of the snail intermediate host.

The feasibility of infecting laboratory rabbits experimentally with the ovine nematode Nematodirus spathiger was examined. Eight-week-old rabbits were dosed either with 5000 or with 17 000 third-stage larvae and killed on days 10, 21 or 42 post-infection. With the lower dose, 20 to 40% of the inoculum were recovered at necropsy. Similar values were recovered at necropsy. Similar values were observed with the 17 000 dose on days 10 and 21 post-infection, but on day 42 the worm population was residual (0·6%). With both dose levels, during the course of infection, the worm populations were mainly composed of fourth-stage larvae and worm egg excretion was low. N. spathiger mainly inhabited the proximal jejunum. The results were compared with N. spathiger infection in sheep to assess the usefulness of the rabbit as an experimental model for Nematodirus infection.

The isoenzymatic pattern of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (abbreviation G6PD) from Ascaris suum has been studied by vertical polyacrylamide gel (PAGE) and horizontal starch gel electrophoresis. After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, two stained zones could be identified. One corresponded to tetrazolium oxidase activity; since this zone was stained even in the absence of glucose 6-phosphate (G6P), non-specific staining could be detected. In the other zone of activity, seven regularly-spaced bands were identified by staining in the presence of G6P and NADP as substrates. By using starch gel electrophoresis, different electrophoretic patterns for G6PD have been observed in the muscular sac, intestine and reproductive system from A. suum. The existence of three different alleles of G6PD in the same individual suggests the existence of at least two genes for this enzyme.

Four species of adult cestodes and one larval form were recovered from Rattus assimilis (Gould, 1858) from Queensland. Hymenolepis diminuta Rudolphi, 1819; and the cysticercus of Taenia taeniae-formis (Batsch, 1786) are new host records for Australia; the same infestations with Raillietina (Raillietina) celebensis (Janicki, 1902) have also been recorded by Baer and Sandars (1956). Two new species, viz:—Choanotaenia ratticola and Hymenolepis australiensis are described.

The type specimens are lodged in the Queensland Museum, Brisbane. Cotype and other specimens studied are also lodged in the Queensland Museum and in the Institut de Zoologie, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland; the Department of Parasitology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and in the British Museum (Natural History).

5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) (1, 2 and 5 mM) significantly stimulated the incorporation of radioactive inorganic phosphate (32Pi) into phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidyiethanolamine, phosphatidic acid and also total phospholipid fraction of Hymenolepis diminuta after one hour of incubation. Such effect was both time and concentration dependent. In the presence of 5-HT early labelling of phosphatidylinositol was observed. Also, the percentage stimulation by 5-HT was the highest in this fraction under all experimental conditions. The inorganic, organic, total and phosphatidylcholine-bound phosphate of H. diminuta incubated with 5-HT were not significantly different from those of the control under all incubation conditions. Results reported herein suggest that messenger molecules that are derived from phosphoinositides may be involved in the stimulatory mechanism of 5-HT in H. diminuta.

The effect of praziquantel (PZQ) on the strobilar development of the cyclophyllidean cestode Mesocestoides corti was explored. Mesocestoides corti larvae were cultivated under conditions reported to favour their differentiation to the adult stage. Parasites were exposed to 0.1 μg ml-1 PZQ for 16 h and subsequently transferred to drug-free medium. The ocurrence of segmentation — an early event of the larval somatic differentiation to the adult worm — was considered as quantitative data. This phenomenon was evidenced earlier in worms transiently exposed to PZQ with respect to control cultures. Moreover, the rate of segmentation of drug-treated worms at the end of the experiment almost doubled that of control worms. To date, no similar effect on any cestode developmental process has been reported for an anthelmintic drug. In the light of the existing knowledge and understanding of PZQ mechanisms of action, the proposed experimental approach could contribute to the elucidation of pathways and mechanisms involved in cestode strobilar development.

A description is given of stainless steel gauze baskets used to contain cysts for infecting potato plants.

The quantitative assay of mitochondrial monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity revealed a higher enzyme level in Explanatum explanatum than Gastrothylax crumenifer. The specific MAO inhibitors, chlorgyline, pargyline, deprenyl and nialamide produced different degrees of interspecific inhibition. The differential effects on enzyme activity of chlorgyline and deprenyl suggests the possible existence of polymorphic forms of the enzyme, MAO-A and MAO-B, in amphistomes. These specific inhibitors also had a differential influence on the in vitro motility of amphistomes, further indicating the involvement of different forms of MAO in the oxidative deamination of biogenic monoamines which might be partly responsible for neuromuscular coordination in amphistomes. The experimental procedures used in this study could be conveniently used for quick screening and evaluation of some of the qualitative effects of anthelmintic drugs under in vitro conditions.

In this paper we re-describe Trichuris muris based on morphological data following isolation from two commensal rodent species, Mus musculus from Mexico and Rattus rattus from Argentina. Furthermore, we provide a molecular characterization based on mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial gene) and nuclear (internal transcribed spacer 2 region) markers in order to support the taxonomic identification of the studied specimens of T. muris from M. musculus. We distinguished T. muris from 29 species of Trichuris found in American rodents based on morphological and biometrical features, such as the presence of a spicular tube, length of spicule, size of proximal and distal cloacal tube and non-protrusive vulva. We suggest that spicular tube patterns can be used to classify Trichuris species in three groups. Considering that the diagnosis among the species of this genus is mainly based on morphometry, this proposal represents a relevant contribution. We provide molecular studies on two markers, making this the first contribution for T. muris in the Americas. This study makes an important contribution to the integrative taxonomy of cosmopolitan nematode species, and its correct determination from the parasitological study of commensal rodents.

Parasites can have strong effects on invertebrate host behaviour, fecundity and survival in marine ecosystems. However, parasites are often poorly documented and still rarely integrated into marine ecological modelling; comprehensive surveys of infection in marine invertebrates are sporadic at best. For example, rock crabs are an important part of Californian coastal ecosystems, both as regulators of mussel populations and non-native species, and as prey items for predators like sea otters, but their parasite communities and potential effects on crab population dynamics are seldom studied or understood. Here, we present the first report of infection by the trematode Helicometrina nimia in the economically and ecologically important red rock crab (Cancer productus) and Pacific rock crab (Romaleon antennarium). As intermediate hosts, they are a missing link for infection by H. nimia in Californian fish that was unreported until now. Based on these findings, we advocate for further research into parasite diversity and their potential effects on ecologically and commercially important species.

During a survey of soil nematodes in Iran, a population of a species belonging to the order Mononchida was recovered. The new species, Paramylonchulus iranicus sp. n. is characterized by body length (1292–1535 μm in females and 1476–1670 μm in males), c (20.2–29.0 in females and 19.9–27.4 in males), buccal cavity length (23.0–26.0 μm), post vulval uterine sac length (135–162 μm), spicule length (46.0–50.0 μm), gubernaculum length (8.0–11.0 μm), and tail length (49.0–70.0 μm in females and 55.0–73.0 μm in males). Canonical discriminant analysis clearly separated P. iranicus sp. n. from the closely related species Paramylonchulus based on the important morphometric characters of females and males. A molecular study of the 18S rDNA region of P. iranicus sp. n. places this population in a well-supported clade with other species of the genus.