EURYTREMA-COELOMATICUM - INFLUENCE OF THE INFECTION ON THE REPRODUCTION AND NUCLEIC-ACIDS CONTENTS IN THE ALBUMIN GLAND AND OVOTESTIS OF BRADYBAENA-SIMILARIS

The number of eggs laid per snail in Bradybaena similaris and the nucl eic acids (DNA and RNA) in the albumen gland and ovotestis were quanti fied in snails infected with sporocysts of the digenetic trematode Eur ytrema coelomaticum The fetal number of eggs laid per mollusc was redu ced by 96.32% at the end of the lan,al development. The DNA concentrat ion increased by 700%, and the RNA concentration was reduced by 8.38% by the time when the daughter sporocysts of E. coelomaticum were relea sed from B. similaris. The relation between these values and the inhib ition of the reproduction observed in infected molluscs is discussed.