Cytochemical localization of cytochrome oxidase in tissues of parasitic nematodes

Abstract

Cytochemical staining with diaminobenzidine (DAB) has been used to locate cytochrome oxidase activity in mitochondria from major tissues of three intestinal parasitic nematodes, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Haemonchus contortus and Ascaridia galli. Deposition of DAB reaction product was uniform and relatively intense in mitochondria from all tissues studied in N. brasiliensis. However, mitochondria from different tissues of H. contortus and A. galli varied considerably in their cytochemical staining, decreasing in the order hypodermis < muscle < gut < reproductive tissue. Mitochondria in gut and reproductive tissue of A. galli possessed little or no cytochrome oxidase activity. These results are compatible with respect to oxygen availability and the extent and localization of the mammalian-type aerobic mitochondrial electron transport pathway in intestinal parasitic nematodes.