RESUMO

Hsp70 is a cytoplasmic heat-shock protein, encoded by a multicopy tandemly repeated gene that has recently been gaining popularity as a valuable marker for typing Leishmania species. In this study, we used a previously described hsp70 PCR-RFLP method for identifying Brazilian Leishmania isolates. We identified two distinct L. (L.) amazonensis hsp70 alleles that resulted in two different RFLP patterns. Also, we found RFLP polymorphisms amongst L. (Viannia) naiffi strains. The profiles of both L. (V.) shawi and L. (V.) lindenbergi were very similar to those of other L. (Viannia) species. The observations described herein reflect the polymorphism found within species of Leishmania and indicate that results from this hsp70 PCR-RFLP method should be used with caution when typing isolates from clinical cases of leishmaniasis and Leishmania species from Brazil.

Assuntos

Proteínas de Choque Térmico HSP70/genética , Leishmania/genética , Leishmaniose Cutânea/parasitologia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase , Polimorfismo de Fragmento de Restrição/genética , Proteínas de Protozoários/genética , Alelos , Animais , Brasil , DNA de Protozoário/genética , Genoma de Protozoário/genética , Humanos , Leishmania/classificação , Leishmania braziliensis/genética , Leishmaniose Cutânea/diagnóstico , Filogenia , Análise de Sequência de DNA