title: High genetic diversity among Iranian Entamoeba dispar isolates based on the noncoding short tandem repeat locus D-A.
abstract: This study has identified and characterized the structure of locus D-A, a noncoding short tandem repeat (STR) region, also known as locus 1-2, in Iranian Entamoeba dispar isolates. This polymorphic locus has been shown to be potentially useful in investigating the molecular epidemiology of Entamoeba histolytica and E. dispar. The genetic polymorphisms in locus D-A in 28 isolates of E. dispar from three different geographic regions of Iran were distinguished using PCR and sequencing, and the results were compared with the E. dispar gene sequences available in GenBank. In all microscopy-positive E. histolytica/E. dispar samples, PCR with species-specific primers was used to amplify a 477-531 bp product, identifying the samples that had E. dispar. Analysis of the sequences revealed a remarkable degree of genetic diversity with regard to size, number and organization of the repeat units among the E. dispar isolates. The sequenced products showed 12 novel E. dispar genotypes, which have been submitted to the GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ database under accession numbers AB354125-AB354136.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University, M.C., Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nazemalhosseini Mojarad
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haghighi
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kazemi
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rostami Nejad
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abadi
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zali
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D004747:Entamoeba / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004749:Entamoebiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan