Population genetic structure and cladistic analysis of Trypanosoma brucei isolates

✍ Scribed by Eddy Chukwura Agbo; Peter-Henning Clausen; Philippe Büscher; Phelix A.O. Majiwa; Eric Claassen; Marinus F.W. te Pas

• Book ID: 104443499
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 681 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1567-1348
• DOI: 10.1016/s1567-1348(03)00071-6

✦ Synopsis

Using a novel multilocus DNA marker analysis method, we studied the population genetic structure of Trypansoma brucei stocks and derived clones isolated from animal and rhodesiense sleeping sickness patients during a national sleeping sickness control program in Mukono district, Uganda. We then performed a cladistic analysis to trace relationships and evolution, using stocks and clones recovered from geographically and temporally matched hosts, including inter-strain comparisons with T. b. gambiense stocks and clones. Our results show that while there was close genetic relatedness among parasite populations from the same geographical region, micro-heterogeneities exist between different stocks. Data are presented that indicate that not every human sleeping sickness focus may be associated with a particular human-infective trypanosome strain responsible for long-term stability of the reference focus. We provide evidence of genetic sub-structuring among type 1 T. b. gambiense stocks, which has potentially important implications for molecular epidemiology of T. brucei.