New Genetic Variants of spp Characterized by MLST from Peruvian Isolates.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the genus presenting complex and dynamic epidemiology. To determine the genetic variability and its phylogenetic relationship of spp isolates from three sources in Iquitos (Peruvian Amazon) from 2002 to 2013, seven MLST genes were analyzed to obtain the (ST) and these sequences were concatenated for phylogenetic analysis. The genetic relationship between STs was determined with the goeBURST algorithm and genetic diversity was determined using DnaSP. Of 51 isolates, 48 were pathogenic belonging to five different species: Nascimento 2004, Feil 2004 Haake 2021, Levett 2021, and Levett 2021. Of 20 STs identified, 60% corresponded to new genotypes circulating only in Peru. The genotypes ST17, ST37, and ST301 were recorded in rodents and humans. A high intraspecific genetic diversity was demonstrated in . The goeBURST analysis revealed three clonal complexes (CCs) and 16 singletons. The STs were found to show high genetic variability and phylogenetic and goeBURST analysis determined that the genotypes found did not form specific groups according to the source of infection or origin, which confirms the zoonotic potential of these STs in an area highly endemic for leptospirosis.