Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
PLoS One. 2023 May 8;18(5):e0285520. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285520. eCollection 2023.
To examine the genetic diversity of Leishmania major, 100 Giemsa-stained positive slides were collected from endemic foci of Iran (Northeast, Central, and Southwest provinces) over two consecutive years during 2019-2021. The Leishmania ITS-rDNA gene was amplified and Leishmania sp. was recognized by PCR-RFLP and sequencing. In addition, 178 registered ITS-rDNA sequences from other geographical regions of Iran were retrieved from GenBank, including different host species (human, sandfly and rodent). A total of 40 new haplotypes were discovered using the ITS-rDNA sequence analysis. IR29 (20.6%) and IR34 (61%) were the two most common haplotypes, represented by a star-like feature in the overall population. Analysis of the molecular variance test revealed low genetic diversity of L. major in human cases (Haplotype diversity; 0.341), rodent (Hd; 0.387) and sandfly (Hd; 0.390) sequences. The lowest genetic diversity of L. major was observed in Southwest/Southeast Iran (Hd: 0.104-0.286). The statistically Fst value indicated that L. major is not genetically differentiated between geographic regions of Iran, except for the Northeast-Southwest (Fst: 0.29055) and Central-Southwest (Fst: 0.30294) population pairs. The current study as the first investigation discloses new perspectives for further evaluation in the identification local transmission paradigms and initiating effective prevention strategies.
为了研究利什曼原虫的遗传多样性，我们在 2019 年至 2021 年期间连续两年从伊朗的流行地区（东北部、中部和西南部）收集了 100 张吉姆萨染色阳性载玻片。通过 PCR-RFLP 和测序扩增了利什曼原虫的 ITS-rDNA 基因，并鉴定出利什曼原虫属。此外，我们从 GenBank 中检索了来自伊朗其他地理区域的 178 条已注册的 ITS-rDNA 序列，包括不同的宿主物种（人类、沙蝇和啮齿动物）。通过 ITS-rDNA 序列分析共发现了 40 个新的单倍型。IR29（20.6%）和 IR34（61%）是最常见的两种单倍型，在整个种群中呈现出星状特征。分子方差分析表明，人类病例（单倍型多样性；0.341）、啮齿动物（Hd；0.387）和沙蝇（Hd；0.390）序列中利什曼原虫的遗传多样性较低。利什曼原虫在伊朗西南部/东南部的遗传多样性最低（Hd：0.104-0.286）。统计 Fst 值表明，利什曼原虫在伊朗地理区域之间没有遗传分化，除了东北部-西南部（Fst：0.29055）和中部-西南部（Fst：0.30294）种群对。本研究作为首次调查，为进一步评估确定当地传播模式和启动有效预防策略提供了新的视角。
