LEISHMANIA-INFANTUM NICOLLE, 1908 FROM SOUTHERN SPAIN - CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STRAINS FROM HUMAN VISCERAL AND CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS ANDFROM SANDFLIES - WITH A NUMERICAL-ANALYSIS OF THE ISOENZYMATIC DATA

This study presents the results of the characterisation of 17 strains of Leishmania by isoenzyme electrophoresis from a focus of leishmanias is in southern Spain: two from human visceral leishmaniasis, four from human cutaneous leishmaniasis and 11 from sandflies. The 17 strains a re grouped in 6 zymodemes characterised by their variability as regard s to the electrophoretic mobility of the enzymes MDH, G6PD, NP and ME. Thus, we confirm the high intraspecific variability of Leishmania (L. ) infantum in a focus of southern Spain, as already suggested by previ ous studies. Zymodemes GR-15 and GR-17 are also described for the firs t time in Spain, and they characteristically possess the same relative electrophoretic mobility in the enzyme ME (93). Sixteen zymodemes of the L. infantum complex found in southern Spain were numerically analy sed on the basis of the enzymatic profiles of 122 Leishmania strains c haracterised from this area.