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Multilocus sequence and microsatellite identification of intra-specific hybrids and ancestor-like donors among natural Ethiopian isolates of Leishmania donovani.

ABSTRACT: Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) cause widespread and devastating human diseases. Visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in Ethiopia where it has also been responsible for fatal epidemics. It is postulated that genetic exchange in Leishmania has implications for heterosis (hybrid vigour), spread of virulent strains, resistance to chemotherapeutics, and exploitation of different hosts and vectors. Here we analyse 11 natural Ethiopian Leishmania donovani isolates consisting of four putative hybrids, seven parent-like isolates and over 90 derived biological clones. We apply a novel combination of high resolution multilocus microsatellite typing (five loci) and multilocus sequence typing (four loci) that together distinguish parent-like and hybrid L. donovani strains. Results indicate that the four isolates (and their associated biological clones) are genetic hybrids, not the results of mixed infections, each possessing heterozygous markers consistent with inheritance of divergent alleles from genetically distinct Ethiopian L. donovani lineages. The allelic profiles of the putative hybrids may have arisen from a single hybridisation event followed by inbreeding or gene conversion, or alternatively from two or more hybridisation events. Mitochondrial sequencing showed uniparental maxicircle inheritance for all of the hybrids, each possessing a single mitochondrial genotype. Fluorescence activated cell sorting analysis of DNA content demonstrated that all hybrids and their associated clones were diploid. Together the data imply that intra-specific genetic exchange is a recurrent feature of natural L. donovani populations, with substantial implications for the phyloepidemiology of Leishmania.

SUBMITTER: Gelanew T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4147965 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Leishmania infantum is the main etiological agent of both visceral and cutaneous clinical forms of leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean area. Leishmania/HIV coinfection in this area is characterized by a chronic course and frequent recurrences of clinical episodes. The present study using Multilocus Microsatellite Typing (MLMT) analysis, a highly discriminative tool, aimed to genetically characterize L. infantum isolates taken from monitored Leishmania/HIV coinfected patients presenting successive clinical episodes.In this study, by the analysis of 20 microsatellite loci, we studied the MLMT profiles of 25?L. infantum isolates from 8 Leishmania/HIV coinfected patients who had experienced several clinical episodes. Two to seven isolates per patient were taken before and after treatment, during clinical and non-clinical episodes, with time intervals of 6 days to 29 months. Genetic diversity, clustering and phenetic analyses were performed.MLMT enabled us to study the genetic characteristics of the 25?L. infantum isolates, differentiating 18 genotypes, corresponding to a genotypic diversity of 0.72. Fifteen genotypes were unique in the total sample set and only 3 were repeated, 2 of which were detected in different patients. Both clustering and phylogenetic analyses provided insights into the genetic links between the isolates; in five patients isolates showed clear genetic links: either the genotype was exactly the same or only slightly different. In contrast, the isolates of the other three patients were dispersed in different clusters and some could be the result of mixing between populations.Our data indicated a great MLMT variability between isolates from coinfected patients and no predominant genotype was observed. Despite this, almost all clinical episodes could be interpreted as a relapse rather than a reinfection. The results showed that diverse factors like an intrapatient evolution over time or culture bias could influence the parasite population detected in the patient, making it difficult to differentiate between relapse and reinfection.

Project description:BackgroundCandida tropicalis is considered to be the leading pathogen causing nosocomial fungemia and hepatosplenic fungal infections in patients with cancer, particularly those with leukemia. Microsatellite-based typing methods using sets of genetic markers have been developed and reported for population structure analysis of C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis, but no studies have been published for genetic analysis of C. tropicalis. The objective of this study was to develop new microsatellite loci that have the ability to distinguish among C. tropicalis isolates.ResultsDNA sequences containing over 10 bi- or tri-nucleotide repeats were selected from the C. tropicalis genome database. Thirty PCR primers sets specific for the microsatellite loci were designed and tested using eight clinically independent isolates. According to the amplification efficiency, specificity, and observed polymorphisms, eight markers were selected for further population structure analysis and molecular typing. Sixty-five independent C. tropicalis isolates were genotyped using these 8 markers. Based on these analyses, six microsatellite loci were confirmed, although two loci were found to be with unstable flanking areas. The six polymorphic loci displayed 4-22 alleles and 7-27 genotypes. The discriminatory power of the six loci ranged from 0.70 to 0.95. Genotyping results obtained by microsatellite analysis were compared to PCR-fingerprinting and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The comparisons showed that microsatellite analysis and MLST had the similar discriminatory power for C. tropicalis, which were more powerful than PCR-fingerprinting.ConclusionsThis is the first attempt to develop new microsatellite loci for C. tropicalis. These newly developed markers will be a valuable resource for the differentiation of C. tropicalis isolates. More C. tropicalis isolates will need to be sequenced and analyzed in order to fully show the potential of these newly developed microsatellite markers.

Project description:BackgroundParasites' evolution in response to parasite-targeted control strategies, such as vaccines and drugs, is known to be influenced by their population genetic structure. The aim of this study was to describe the population structure of Ethiopian strains of Leishmania donovani derived from different areas endemic for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) as a prerequisite for the design of effective control strategies against the disease.Methodology/principal findingsSixty-three strains of L. donovani newly isolated from VL cases in the two main Ethiopian foci, in the north Ethiopia (NE) and south Ethiopia (SE) of the country were investigated by using 14 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. The microsatellite profiles of 60 previously analysed L. donovani strains from Sudan, Kenya and India were included for comparison. Multilocus microsatellite typing placed strains from SE and Kenya (n = 30) in one population and strains from NE and Sudan (n = 65) in another. These two East African populations corresponded to the areas of distribution of two different sand fly vectors. In NE and Sudan Phlebotomus orientalis has been implicated to transmit the parasites and in SE and Kenya P. martini. The genetic differences between parasites from NE and SE are also congruent with some phenotypic differences. Each of these populations was further divided into two subpopulations. Interestingly, in one of the subpopulations of the population NE we observed predominance of strains isolated from HIV-VL co-infected patients and of strains with putative hybrid genotypes. Furthermore, high inbreeding irreconcilable from strict clonal reproduction was found for strains from SE and Kenya indicating a mixed-mating system.Conclusions/significanceThis study identified a hierarchical population structure of L. donovani in East Africa. The existence of two main, genetically and geographically separated, populations could reflect different parasite-vector associations, different ecologies and varying host backgrounds and should be further investigated.

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Multilocus sequence and microsatellite identification of intra-specific hybrids and ancestor-like donors among natural Ethiopian isolates of Leishmania donovani.

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