title: Interclonal variations in molecular karyotype in Leishmania infantum imply a 'mosaic' strain structure.
abstract: The molecular karyotypes of 36 clones derived from 8 strains of Leishmania infantum were examined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Although there appeared to be a high degree of genetic relatedness between the clones and the parent strain, a limited degree of polymorphism was noted in 50% of the clones, expressed mainly as the presence of an additional chromosome or as a chromosome size modification. Repeated subcloning in one strain showed that chromosomal rearrangements could occur during the cloning process. Chromosome homologies were examined by Southern analysis with chromosome-specific DNA probes. The results suggest a disomy for some chromosomes, but cannot exclude aneuploidy. The mechanisms possibly leading to such heterogeneity are discussed: they could involve frequent DNA amplification/deletion, and imply a 'mosaic' structure of the cultured strains or clones, with different individuals possessing differently sized versions of the same chromosomes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Médicale et Pathologie Parasitaire, UA 691 CNRS, Faculté de Médecine, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bastien
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blaineau
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taminh
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rioux
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roizès
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pagès
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002999:Clone Cells; D007621:Karyotyping; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000235:genetics*; D009030:Mosaicism; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid