title: Identification of endotrypanum species from a sloth, a squirrel and Lutzomyia sandflies in ecuador by PCR amplification and sequencing of the mini-exon gene.
abstract: PCR amplification and nucleotide sequencing of the mini-exon gene revealed that four strains isolated from a sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), a squirrel (Sciurus granatensis) and two sandflies (Lutzomyia hartmanni) in Ecuador were indistinguishable from Endotrypanum monterogeii. Another strain isolated from Lu. hartmanni showed the high sequence similarity to E. schaudinni. Since three of these strains have been previously identified as Leishmania (Viannia) equatorensis, the results demonstrate that L. (V.) equatorensis is genetically closely related to the genus Endotrypanum. The present study also indicates that Endotrypanum species are distributed in arboreal animals and sandflies in Ecuador, and that mini-exon gene amplification is useful for epidemiological studies of Leishmania and Endotrypanum in the New World.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katakura
authors.forename: Tatsuyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mimori
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uezato
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nonaka
authors.forename: Munehiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Eduardo A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Gomez L
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashiguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004484:Ecuador; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics*; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D012589:Sciuridae / Q000469:parasitology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012896:Sloths / Q000469:parasitology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014351:Trypanosomatina / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*