Genetic polymorphism of Leishmania species using kinetoplast DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism and cDNA probe of Leishmania donovani

Leishmaniasis represents a group of diseases that range from simple cutaneous lesions through metastasizing diffused cutaneous to severe systemic infection depending upon the taxon to which the causative parasite belongs. Therefore, it is important to identify the infecting Leishmania. Methods presently being used, including immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology have one or the other limitations, leaving scope for the search for newer probes. This study reports the characterization of leishmania isolates both by restriction fragment length polymorphism of kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) and genomic DNA. The genomic DNA was probed with a cDNA probe B₂a₁. Using a kDNA restriction pattern technique, different isolates of Leishmania donovani could be differentiated from the UR6 strain of L. tropica, but it was not possible to differentiate between newer local isolates of L. donovani with most of the restriction enzymes except AluI. However, the B₂a₁ cDNA probe was able to differentiate these isolates effectively. Both of these techniques could differentiate newer local isolates of L. donovani from the older isolates of L. donovani from India, i.e., DD8, RMRI and SS. The Indian isolates of L. donovani could also be differentiated from isolates of L. donovani from Jeddah and Germany using both techniques. The present study indicates that the cDNA probe B₂a₁ can be used as an important adjunct to kDNA restriction analysis for the characterization of Leishmania species. Received: 15 October 1996