East Africa has a diverse chameleon fauna with over 50 species described to date. These species are mostly regional endemics restricted to highlands areas and adapted to cooler and higher rainfall environments [1] . The Common Chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, belongs to the family Chamaeleonidae. These Old World lizards possess unique features that make them easily distinguishable from other lizards. Included in the features are their zygodactyl feet and laterally compressed body. Their adjacent digits are fused on each foot, forming opposing grasping pads [2] .

Chamaeleonidae is composed of six genera, which include Bradypodion, Brookesia, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcife, and Rhampholeon [3] . The Common Chameleon features the broadest distribution of all chameleon species, found from Morocco and the southern Iberian Peninsula over the whole of North Africa, to the Near East, Turkey, Cyprus and Southern Arabia [4] . The genus Chamaeleo contains 4 recognized subspecies: C. c. chamaeleon, C. c. musae, C. c. orientalis, and C. c. rectricrista. The subspecies; C. c. chamaeleon and C. c. musaeare allocated from North Africa, Middle East, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Western Sahara, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran [5] .

Isoenzymes are multiple forms of a single enzyme, which often have different isoelectric points and therefore can be separated by electrophoresis. Ldhsisozymes are systems very suitable for our examination of several metabolic, genetic, ecological features, and very useful in systematic studies [6] . Ldhs as a kind of hydrogen transfer enzyme, catalyze the oxidation of L-lactate to pyruvate with nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD)+ as hydrogen acceptor, which constitutes the final step in the metabolic chain of anaerobic glycolysis. Esterase isoenzymes (Ests), as one of the lipid-hydrolyzing enzymes, possess high significance in genetics and toxicology [7] .

Electrophoresis is a versatile biochemical technique to detect genetic variation between subspecies depending on the migration of the charged molecules, such as isoenzymes, in an electric field [8] . Thus the present study aims to investigate the patterns of inter-specific genetic and biochemical variations between two subspecies of C. chamaeleon (C. chamaeleon chamaeleon and C. c. musae) in the coastal and Sinai deserts of Egypt.

All gels were scanned using Gel Doc-2001 Bio-Rad system. For isoenzymes, the bands of enzyme activity were designated according to the system nomenclature proposed by [16] .

An abbreviation which corresponds to the name of the enzyme was designated to each locus. When multiple loci were involved, the fastest anodal protein band was designated as Locus One, the next as Locus Two and so on. Student t-test in the PASW package v. 20 was used to calculate the significance difference of total lipids and total proteins within and between species.

Three Ldh isoforms were recorded for both subspecies of C. chanaeleon. The activity of Ldh-1isoform seemed to be higher in C. c. chanaeleon than in C. c. musaebecause greater thickness, density, and the rate of flow (RF) of the band in C. c. chanaeleonwas observed (Figure 2). Ldhsisozymes are systems that both very suitable systems for studying several metabolic, genetic, ecological features, and are very useful in systematic studies [6] . Ldhs are ahydrogen transfer enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of L-lactate to pyruvate with nicotinamide- adenine dinucleotide (NAD)+ as hydrogen acceptor, the final step in the metabolic chain of anaerobic glycolysis. The reaction is reversible and the reaction equilibrium strongly favours the reverse reaction, namely the reduction of pyruvate (P) to lactate (L):

Due to its ability to produce NADH, this enzyme is thought to be a key enzyme in lipid biosynthesis. The apparent increase in the activity of Ldh in liver tissues of C. c. chanaeleon, in the present study, could be supported by the significant increase in the total lipids and proteins in liver and muscle tissues of this subspecies. This subspecies is also shown to be fattier than C. c. musae. It may thus be reasonable to suppose that C. c. chanaeleon is more active, energetic, and adaptable in its habitat than C. c. musae.

The α-Est showed four fractions in both subspecies of chamaeleons except in the case of the last sample in C. c. musae, which showed three fractions with absence of the third fraction. The fractions of the two subspecies of chamaeleons were the same in terms of density and thickness. And their rates of flow were nearly the same (Figure 3). Esterases are used as bioindicators to measure the toxic potency of pesticide residues usually applied in the field [6] [7] . The null variations in the activity of α-Ests in the studied tissue may indicate, to some extent, the safety of the diet applied to both subspecies of chameleons.

Table 1 shows the mean and standard error values of total lipids and proteins in liver and muscle tissues of

^*Highly significant at P < 0.05.

both subspecies of chamaeleons. By comparing the total lipids and total proteins of liver and muscle tissues in the two C. chamaeleonsubspecies, one canfindasignificantly bigger increase (P < 0.05) of the total lipids and total proteins in liver and muscle tissues of C. c. chamaeleon than in C. c. musae. Within each subspecies, total lipids and proteins were significantly higher in liver (P < 0.05) tissues than in muscle.

In conclusion, C. c. chamaeleon acquired high physiological performance and activity than C. c. musae. Between the two, isoenzyme expression in the former species was higher than in the latter. The accumulation of total lipids and proteins were also significantly higher in the former subspecies than in the latter.

We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Hany Hassan, professor at Animal Reproduction Research Institute for his technical support in conducting the practical part of isoenzyme assay in this work.