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Two main clusters within Trypanosoma cruzi zymodeme 3 are defined by distinct regions of the ribosomal RNA cistron

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2002

M. B. A. MENDONÇA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
N. S. NEHME
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
S. S. SANTOS
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
E. CUPOLILLO
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
N. VARGAS
Affiliation:
Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
A. JUNQUEIRA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
R. D. NAIFF
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brasil
T. V. BARRETT
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brasil
J. R. COURA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
B. ZINGALES
Affiliation:
Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
O. FERNANDES
Affiliation:
Departamento de Medicina Tropical and Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Abstract

Trypanosoma cruzi is currently classified into 2 major phylogenetic lineages, T. cruzi I and II, that correlate with the formerly described zymodeme 1 and 2, respectively. Another isoenzymic group (zymodeme 3–Z3) was also described. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity among Z3 isolates of the Brazilian Amazon by restriction fragment length polymorphism of the intergenic transcribed spacers (ITSs) of the ribosomal RNA cistron and the size of the divergent domain D7 of the 24Sα rRNA gene. DNAs from 12 T. cruzi Z3 isolates obtained from humans (2), Panstrongylus geniculatus (1), and Rhodnius brethesi (9) were submitted to PCR amplification of the ITSs plus the 5·8S rDNA. The PCR products were digested with 4 distinct endonucleases and the profiles analysed by a numerical methodology. The phenetic dendrogram revealed a clear dichotomy in the Z3 group, defining 2 groups that were named Z3-A and Z3-B. Dimorphism was also found in the band sizes of the amplified D7 divergent domain of the 24Sα rDNA, which showed a perfect correlation with the ITSs clustering. The organization of the ribosomal cistron was investigated by Southern blotting and shown to be conserved in the genome of the 2 Z3 groups. This study shows that the rDNA cistron allows the definition of 2 distinct subclusters in Z3 isolates.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2002 Cambridge University Press

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