title: Evaluation of 7SL RNA gene sequences for the identification of Leishmania spp.
abstract: We evaluated the use of 7SL RNA gene sequences for the identification of Leishmania spp. A fragment (approximately 137 basepairs) of the 7SL RNA gene from 13 reference strains and 18 clinical isolates of 11 different Leishmania species was amplified and sequenced using conserved primers. Reference strains from each Leishmania spp. complex showed unique sequences. The nucleotide sequences were compared pairwise and a range of 81.0-99.3% intercomplex similarity was observed. Clinical isolates of the same species had sequences identical to the corresponding reference strains; thus, the intraspecies similarity was 100%. A phylogenetic tree derived from the 7SL RNA gene partial sequences was constructed and is in agreement with accepted phylogenetic schemes.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Service, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. azelazny@cc.nih.gov <azelazny@cc.nih.gov>
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zelazny
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Fedorko
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Franklin A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Neva
authors.forename: Steven H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D016053:RNA, Protozoan