DNA CONTENT AND MOLECULAR KARYOTYPE OF TRYPANOSOMES OF THE SUBGENUS NANNOMONAS

The relative DNA contents of representative stocks of 5 groups within the trypanosome subgenus Nannomonas (Trypanosoma simiae, Godfreyi, T. congolense Savannah, Forest and Kilifi) were measured by flow cytometr y. The range of DNA contents formed a continuum. Nevertheless small di fferences were observed between the groups, with T. simiae/T. congolen se Savannah and T. congolense Kilifi/Forest at the lower and higher en ds of the range respectively. Analysis of karyotype by pulsed field ge l electrophoresis showed all the 5 Nannomonas groups to have minichrom osomes and variable numbers of small chromosomes in the 100-700 kb siz e range. The size and relative number of mini-chromosomes Varied from group to group, but no correlation between molecular karyotype and DNA content was observed.