title: Development of a genus specific primer set for detection of Leishmania parasites by polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: We have compared the sequences of a major class of kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) minicircle (pLURkE3) of Leishmania strain UR6 with other minicircle sequences from different Leishmania species. Alignment of these sequences allowed the selection of a pair of oligonucleotides suitable as primers in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which is specific for Leishmania parasites. PCR with this genus-specific primer set is capable of detecting 1 femtogram of kDNA. These primers have been tested with kDNAs from both old world and new world Leishmania species. The results indicate that the primers may be suitable for detection of any kind of leishmaniasis.
authors.affiliation: Leishmania Group, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Majumder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D006224:Cricetinae; D017931:DNA Primers; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D007891:Leishmania / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018105:DNA, Kinetoplast