The physiology of <i>Leishmania</i>

Abstract

The metabolism of all members of the genus Leishmania is characterized by aerobic fermentations, which lead to the excretion of various partly oxidized metabolic endproducts. The flagellates utilize several carbohydrates freely, but hardly anything is known about the intermediate carbohydrate metabolismo At suitably low pH they are able to consume intermediates of the Krebs cycle, but the presence of a functional tricarboxylic acid cycle has not yet been demonstrated conclusively. Recent data on lipid metabolism and biosynthesis have revealed interesting paralleles to phytoflagellates, as have newer studies on nucleic acids. The composition of the proteins of Leishmania is essentially unknown, but the fact that under certain experimental conditions numerous amino acids are leaked into the medium, indicates that probably all common amino acids are leaked into the medium, indicates that probably all common amino acids are present. The respiration of the flagellates is probably characterized by heavy metal catalysis, but it is uncertain whether or not they contain a fully functional cytochrome system.