Whole-genome sequencing of Leishmaniinae cultured isolates obtained from a refractory relapsed visceral leishmaniasis case, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil.
Parasite strains were isolated from a Brazilian male child patient diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis - VL. A total of four clinical isolates were obtained during different periods of disease remission. LVH117 and LVH120 clinical isolates were obtained in 2017 from bone marrow and spleen, respectively. LVH161 and LVH161a clinical isolates were obtained in 2020 from bone marrow and skin lesion biopsy, respectively. Clonal strains were obtained from each cultured isolate and designed numerically (clone 1 C1, clone 2 C2, and so on). A clonal strain from LVH60a cultured isolate also was sequenced to obtain a polished genome assembly. LVH161 parasites is Leishmania infantum, whereas LVH60a, LVH117 and LVH120 are phylogenetically more related to Crithidia fasciculata, being designated tentatively as Crithidia sp (unclassified Crithidia, NCBI:txid2052650).