Comparative genomics of Leishmania isolates from Brazil confirms the presence of Leishmania major in the Americas

Int J Parasitol. 2021 Jul 27:S0020-7519(21)00233-2. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2021.05.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTLeishmania (Leishmania) major is an important agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis, having as a vector sandflies belonging to the genus Phlebotomus. Although this species has been described as restricted to the Old World, parasites similar to L. major have been isolated from South American patients who have never traveled abroad. These parasites were named "L. major-like", and several studies have been carried out to characterize them biochemically, molecularly, and biologically. However, the phylogenetic origin of these isolates is still unknown. In the present study we characterized three L. major-like isolates, named BH49, BH121 and BH129, using comparative genomics approaches. We evaluated the presence of gene and segmental duplications/deletions and the presence of aneuploidies that could explain the differences in infectivity observed in the BH49 and BH121 isolates. All isolates presented a pattern of mosaic aneuploidy and gene copy number variation, which are common in the genus Leishmania. Virulence factors such as phosphatases and peptidases were found to have increased gene copy numbers in the infective isolate, which could explain the difference in infectivity previously observed between BH121 and BH49. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that BH49, BH121 and BH129 L. major-like grouped with L. major isolates, and suggest they were imported from the Old World...
Source: International Journal for Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Authors: Source Type: research