title: Leptomonas costaricensis sp. n. (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatidae), a member of the novel phylogenetic group of insect trypanosomatids closely related to the genus Leishmania.
abstract: A flagellate isolated from the intestinal tract of a reduviid bug Ricolla simillima (Heteroptera) in Costa Rica was found to represent a new trypanosomatid species by the phylogenetic analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA), glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and large subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPOIILS) genes. The phylogenetic position of this trypanosomatid, together with its typical promastigote morphology and the host identity, allowed its classification as a species that belongs to the polyphyletic genus Leptomonas. Interestingly, the new species was revealed as a member of the novel phylogenetic clade representing the closest known relative of Leishmania. With the new species used as an outgroup to root the Leishmania RPOIILS phylogenetic tree, the lineage of the Neotropical species L. enriettii was found to branch off early, and was followed by a deep split between the Old World and the remaining New World species. This tree topology supports the hypothesis that the initial transition to dixenous parasitism in this group pre-dated the continental split and that afterwards the Neotropical and the Old World groups evolved largely independently.
authors.affiliation: Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York 10461, USA.
authors.forename: V Y
authors.initials: VY
authors.lastname: Yurchenko
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lukes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jirku
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zeledón
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Maslov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000469:parasitology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D013045:Species Specificity; D014351:Trypanosomatina / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D005987:Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases