DISCRIMINATION OF LEISHMANIA ISOLATES USING A LIMITED SET OF ENZYMATIC LOCI

The characterization of more than 200 Leishmania isolates, using 18 en zymatic loci, indicated that only a limited number of enzymes produces diagnostic alleles which are potentially useful in the identification of species or zymodemes. 6-Phospho-gluconate dehydrogenase was the mo st polymorphic enzyme, containing the majority of diagnostic alleles, and could be used to separate strains of the subgenus Leishmania from those of Viannia. It appears that just a few enzymatic loci, chosen a priori, are all that are needed in many taxonomic and epidemiological studies of Leishmania.