KINETOPLAST AND NUCLEAR-DNA POLYMORPHISM OF VISCERAL LEISHMANIA ISOLATES FROM NORTHEASTERN INDIA

The recent epidemic outbreaks of visceral leishmaniasis have created a major health problem in India. Whether these outbreaks and the drug-r esistance seen in about a quarter of these cases are genetically based remains unknown. To facilitate a better understanding of these possib ilities, we have begun to analyse kinetoplast (k) and nuclear (n) DNA heterogeneity of Leishmania isolates from Bihar (DD8, RMRI and SS) and West Bengal (AG and UR6). Schizodeme and Southern blot analyses of th eir kDNA separated these isolates into three groups, i.e. DD8, RMRI an d SS; AG and UR6. This grouping is consistent with the results of rest riction fragment length polymorphisms seen at the gp63 and beta-tubuli n loci by Southern blot analysis of nDNA. The results obtained better define the genetic heterogeneity of Indian visceral Leishmania isolate s for further characterization of their relationships to virulence and drug-resistance.