[Ecology and the genetic structure of sympatric leishmania species circulating in the intra-continental deserts of the south Palaearctic region]. / Ekologia i geneticheskaia struktura populiatsii simpatrichnykh vidov leishmanii, tsirkuliruiushchikh vo vnutrikontinental'nykh pustyniakh iuzhnoi Palearktiki.

A PCR fingerprinting approach with single non-specific primers--(GTG)5 and T3B--was apply to investigate variations in the genotyping of three species of Leishmania species within the Rhombomys opimus area. Forty-three strains of Leishmania major, L. turanica, and L. gerbilli circulating among great gerbils in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia were examined. PCR fingerprint revealed a high genetic intraspecific heterogeneity among L. turanica strains. Three groups of strains were clearly identified. The strains from Mongolia greatly differed from other L. turanica ones. The second group was formed by strains from Kazakhstan, they also demonstrated rather different patterns. L. turanica strains from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan showed only minor differences, but greatly different from those from Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The groups identified by the PCR fingerprint correlate with the conditions of circulation: the duration of a transmission season and as the result of different periods of retention of Leishmania in the skin of great gerbils, as well as the presence or absence of L. major as coexisting species. There were no differences between L. turanica strains isolated from different hosts in the same geographical region, as well as between L. turanica strains isolated in the hyper- or meso and hypoendemic foci. There was no correlation between the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of L. turanica. No intraspecific polymorphism was found among L. major and L. gerbilli strains from different geographical regions within the great gerbil area.

[Glass slide smears and imprints from infected organs for identification of Leishmania major by polymerase chain reaction methods]. / Vozmozhnost' ispol'zovaniia mazkov i otpechatkov na stekle ot porazhennykh organov dlia identifikatsii Leishmaniia major metodami PTSR analiza.

The paper presents data showing that the DNA isolated from the smears and imprints of L. major-infected hamsters is suitable for use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the causative agent of leishmaniasis. The most solid data have been obtained with the smears unexposed to staining and examination by using immersion oil and to benzene treatment. The DNA isolated from these smears infected may preserve for at least 1.5 months in a domestic refrigerator. The immersion oil-treated smears may be also used to identify leishmanias, but DNA should be isolated from the infected specimens of these smears just before PCR. The original primer pair L-unit/L-mail that has shown itself well in the experiments on cultured promastigotes may be, if required, used to differentiate L. major and L. turanica in the infected material collected from infected rodents.