title: Geographic distribution of human Blastocystis subtypes in South America.
abstract: Blastocystis is a cosmopolitan enteric protist colonizing probably more than 1 billion people. This protozoan exhibits genetic diversity and is subdivided into subtypes (STs). The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of Blastocystis STs in symptomatic and asymptomatic human samples from different countries of South America. A total of 346 fecal samples were genotyped by SSU rDNA showing ST1 (28.3%), ST2 (22.2%), ST3 (36.7%), ST4 (2%), ST5 (2.3%), ST6 (2%), ST7 (2.3%), ST8 (0.6%), ST12 (0.9%) and a novel ST (2.7%). These findings update the epidemiology of Blastocystis in South America and expand our knowledge of the phylogeographic differences exhibited by this stramenopile.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigaciones Microbiológicas, UR (GIMUR), Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Matemáticas, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: juand.ramirez@urosario.edu.co.
authors.forename: Juan David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ramírez
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigaciones Microbiológicas, UR (GIMUR), Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Matemáticas, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Angie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigaciones Microbiológicas, UR (GIMUR), Programa de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Matemáticas, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Parasitología, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flórez
authors.affiliation: Programa Profesional de Biología, Grupo de Investigación en Parasitología y Microbiología Tropical, GIPAMT, Universidad Incca de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: María Consuelo
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bernal
authors.affiliation: Programa Profesional de Biología, Grupo de Investigación en Parasitología y Microbiología Tropical, GIPAMT, Universidad Incca de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Julio Cesar
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Giraldo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Myriam Consuelo
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Lineth
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigaciones FEPIS, Quininde, Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador; Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, de la Salud y la Vida, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigaciones FEPIS, Quininde, Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Yosselin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vicuña
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitología del Hospital Nacional de Clínicas, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mongi
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitología del Hospital Nacional de Clínicas, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Rodolfo D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Casero
mesh_terms: D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D016844:Blastocystis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016776:Blastocystis Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013020:South America / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: 18S alleles; Blastocystis; Genotyping; Molecular epidemiology; Subtypes