HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (22) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by ZEMANOVÁ, E. Articles by LUKES, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by ZEMANOVÁ, E. Articles by LUKES, J. Related Collections Epidemiology Genetic Epidemiology Leishmaniasis

GENETIC POLYMORPHISM WITHIN THE LEISHMANIA DONOVANI COMPLEX: CORRELATION WITH GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN

EVA ZEMANOVÁ, MILAN JIRK, ISABEL L. MAURICIO, MICHAEL A. MILES, AND JULIUS LUKE

Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Biology, University of South Bohemia, eské Budjovice, Czech Republic; Pathogen Molecular Biology Unit, Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was used to detect intraspecific diversity for the Leishmania donovani complex. Fifty-two decameric to 21-meric primers of arbitrary sequence were applied to 15 strains that belong to nine zymodemes. Strains belonging to the species L. major and L. tropica were used as outgroups. A total of 902 amplicons generated by RAPD were scored. Most primers produced species-specific profiles, only 0.6% amplicons were shared by all species, while 4.3% amplicons were common for all 15 strains of the L. donovani complex. Well-supported trees have been constructed, which show a rather strong correlation between the genetic polymorphism of studied strains and their geographic origin. In all obtained trees, L. infantum was paraphyletic. The RAPD profiles suggest that MON-30 belongs to L. donovani. Moreover, the genetic distance between the L. archibaldi strain and other leishmanias does not warrant existence of a separate species.

Received May 30, 2003. Accepted for publication January 22, 2004.

Acknowledgments: We thank Jean-Pierre Dedet and Francine Pratlong (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Médicale et Pathologie Parasitaire, Montpellier, France) and Jan Votpka (Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) for providing the strains, and Ivan Fiala (Institute of Parasitology, eské Budjovice, Czech Republic) for help with phylogeny.

Financial support: This work was supported by grants from the European Community (QLK2-CT-2001-01810) and the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic (MSMT-123100003).

Authors’ addresses: Eva Zemanová, Milan Jirk, and Julius Luke, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Biology, University of South Bohemia, Braniovská 31, 37005, eské Budjovice, Telephone: 420-38-777-5416, Fax: 420-38-531-0388, E-mail: jula{at}paru.cas.cz. Isabel L. Mauricio and Michael A. Miles, Pathogen Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Unit, Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom.

Reprint requests: Julius Luke, Department of Molecular Parasitology, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Braniovská 31, 370 05, eské Budjovice, Czech Republic.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Rotureau, C. Ravel, M. Nacher, P. Couppie, I. Curtet, J.-P. Dedet, and B. Carme Molecular Epidemiology of Leishmania (Viannia) guyanensis in French Guiana J. Clin. Microbiol., February 1, 2006; 44(2): 468 - 473. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]