title: An assessment of the genetic diversity of Leishmania infantum isolates from infected dogs in Brazil.
abstract: Correlations between the genetic diversity of Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi) isolates and their respective geographic origins support the theoretic assumption that visceral leishmaniasis probably originated in the Old World. Because dogs are widely considered to be the main reservoir of this disease, the present study aimed to investigate the degree of genetic divergence among 44 leishmanial canine isolates from two Brazilian cities, Jequié and Campo Grande, located approximately 2,028 km from each other. We hypothesized that a low degree of genetic divergence would be observed among these isolates. In fact, statistical analyses found no significant differences between the isolates using both random amplified polymorphic DNA and multilocus microsatellite typing genotyping techniques with three and seven markers, respectively. These findings provide support for the recent introduction of L. infantum into the New World.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Patologia e Biointervenção do CPqGM, FIOCRUZ, Bahia, Brazil. luisfabio.batista@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Luís Fábio da S
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Segatto
authors.forename: Carlos Eduardo S
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.forename: Rosana S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Cleusa A T
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Júlia Cristina M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Brazuna
authors.forename: Joselli S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Silvana O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Larangeira
authors.forename: Andréa Mara
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Macedo
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schriefer
authors.forename: Patrícia S T
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Veras
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000469:parasitology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing / Q000379:methods; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan