Genotypic discrimination between a leishmania isolate and two leishmania major reference strains using PCR-RFLP technique

ABSTRACT

The restriction fragment length polymorphism [PCR-RFLP] of 18S rDNA amplified fragments was conducted to distinguish between an unidentified Leishmania isolated from Egyptian patient infected in Saudi Arabia and two L. Major reference strains causing cutaneous lesions. The strains were maintained both in vivo and in vitro. A morphological characterization on the basis of light microscope and scanning electron microcopy and behavior in experimental Swiss albino mice regarding the development of lesions was performed. The results showed that PCR-RFLP analysis of the 18S rDNA amplified PCR fragments was highly successful to classify the unidentified Leishmania strain in the category of L. major. There were no significant differences regarding the cutaneous lesions development. Significant variations of the morphometric measurement of the three strains were observed