K. Victoir et al., PLASTICITY OF GP63 GENE ORGANIZATION IN LEISHMANIA (VIANNIA) BRAZILIENSIS AND LEISHMANIA (VIANNIA) PERUVIANA, Parasitology, 111, 1995, pp. 265-273
The genomic organization of gp63 genes in 4 and 7 isolates of Leishman
ia braziliensis and L. peruviana, respectively was studied by RFLP ana
lysis with 3 restriction enzymes (Bgl I, Sal I and Apa I). Our results
showed a marked polymorphism among isolates. Some characters were spe
cific to L. braziliensis or to L. peruviana, and others specific to th
e respective biogeographical populations of L. peruviana. The average
minimum copy number of gp63 genes was found to be higher in L. brazili
ensis (71) than in L. peruviana (46), suggesting that deletion of gp63
genes might be partially involved in the size decrease of the chromos
ome bearing gp63 genes, observed between those 2 species (from 700 to
610 kb). Our results may suggest the existence of at least 2 arrays of
heterologous gp63 repeats, varying in relative copy number between L.
braziliensis and L. peruviana, and among isolates of the latter speci
es. Rearrangement of the gp63 genes was observed during long-term in v
itro maintenance of a reference strain of L. braziliensis. These obser
vations document the existence of a dynamic gp63 gene organization in
Leishmania of the braziliensis complex.