A study on energy metabolism of fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis

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Echinococcus multilocularis (Em) is a zoonotic parasite, distributed widely in northern hemisphere including Japan. The larval stage of Em causes life-threatening disease in humans called alveolar echinococcosis. The present study aimed to provide an overview of energetic metabolism pathway in Em. The result of metabolomics analysis using larval Em cultured under aerobic/anaerobic condition suggests that the parasite possesses both aerobic and anaerobic metabolic pathways. The presence of the putative anaerobic pathway is consistent with our previous study (Matsumoto et al., 2008), leading us to infer that the parasite uses this unique metabolic pathway to survive in anaerobic conditions in host tissues. In addition, we obtained the complete sequence for 3 glucose transporter genes, which are supposed to be involved in energy uptake by Em. Further analyses on energy metabolism in Em are presently carried out to identify novel targets for chemotherapy of alveolar echinococcosis.