ADAPTATION OF LEISHMANIA TO NATURAL DIETS OF THE VECTOR

利什曼原虫寄生在媒介白蛉的消化道中， 包括与消化酶混合的苍蝇食物。 我们将 确定食物成分的变化是否影响 病原体的发展过程，以及这些因素是否会影响 传递的自然力量。 一系列的实验将把各种天然存在的 在约旦河谷发现的食用植物和蜜露， L的过程。主要感染为帕帕塔斯疟原虫。 首先，这些食物将 提供给实验室饲养的感染苍蝇，以及每种饮食的影响 其特征在于估计寄生虫密度、死亡率和形态 肠内容物染色制剂中的畸变。 推导出的标准 将用于筛选假定的田间饮食， 它们对媒介蝇自然感染的影响。 那我们就 评估这些食物在自然界中摄入的频率， 检查野生苍蝇的内脏 利什曼原虫的流行 与特定食物来源的存在有关。 一系列配套实验将研究 不同的动物，特有的约旦河谷，影响的过程中， 感染白蛉。 因此，我们将确定是否leishmanial 感染减少或消除后，受感染的苍蝇进食 特别是自然发生的动物。 因为中肠蛋白水解 媒介白蛉在不同种类的宿主之间存在差异， 利什曼原虫的糖复合物影响这些消化酶，我们 将比较白蛉进食后分泌的类胰蛋白酶 在这个主机阵列上。 建议分析媒介的饮食作为影响 媒介能力和利什曼病传播的力量构成了一个 利什曼病流行病学的新方法。 我们预计 这些结果将有助于对矢量的基本理解- 病原体相互作用，并可提供用于控制 这些感染。

Leishmania resides in the alimentary tract of vector sandflies, in a medium comprising the food of the fly mixed with digestive enzymes. We shall determine whether variations in the composition of the food influence the course of development of the pathogen and whether such factor may affect the natural force of transmission. One series of experiments will correlate the presence of various naturally occurring food plants and honeydew, found in the Jordan Valley, with the course of L. major infection in P. papatasi. First, these foods will be provided to laboratory-reared infected flies and the effect of each diet characterized by estimating parasite density, mortality and morphological abberations, in stained preparations of gut-contents. The criteria deduced from these experiments will be used to screen putative field diets for their effect on natural infections in vector flies. Then, we shall evaluate how frequently each of these foods are ingested in nature, by examining the guts of wild-caught flies. The prevalence of Leishmania will be correlated with the presence of particular food sources. A companion series of experiments will investigate whether blood of different animals, endemic to the Jordan Valley, affects the course of infection in sandflies. Thus, we shall determine whether leishmanial infection is diminished or eliminated after infected flies feed on particular naturally occurring animals. Because midgut proteolysis in vector sandflies varies between different kinds of hosts and the major glycoconjugates of the Leishmania influences these digestive enzymes, we shall compare the trypsin-like enzymes secreted in sandflies after feeding on this array of hosts. The proposed analysis of the diet of the vector as a factor that affects vector competence and the force of leishmanial transmission constitutes a novel approach to the epidemiology of the leishmaniases. We anticipate that these results will contribute to a basic understanding of vector- pathogen interactions and may provide methods useful in the control of these infections.