Genetic heterogeneity in clinical isolates of Leishmania donovani from India

Genetic diversity within 45 Indian Leishmania donovani isolates was analyzed using seven genetic markers. While kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) analysis revealed 15 genotypes, 8 genotypes were obtained by analysis of other markers. In contrast to earlier reports, our data suggest that significant genetic polymorphisms exist in L. donovani strains in Bihar, India. Our results confirm the presence of 2 zymodemes in India. Current data about genetic variations among Leishmania donovani isolates in the Indian subcontinent suggest a lack of heterogeneity in Indian L. donovani strains (1). Methods uti-lizing PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) or multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) (3, 11) are widely used to differentiate strains. We combined several PCR-based techniques such as RFLP, length polymorphism, and sequenc-ing to detect whether genetic polymorphisms exist in strains of L. donovani in India. In the present study, we explored the discriminatory per