Characterization of Trypanosoma scelopori kinetoplast DNA: Conserved region of minicircle as a molecular-taxonomic feature

The minicircle kDNA component of Trypanosoma scelopori (a parasite of Iguan idae) was characterized. Three classes of minicircles differing in size wer e demonstrated. Analysis of the minicircle conserved region confirmed the c lose relationship of T. scelopori and T. cruzi postulated from other molecu lar parameters. The evolutionary relationships inside this group of Protozo a were analyzed using the DNA sequence of the minicircle conserved region a s a genetic marker. The possibility of using this attribute for phylogeneti c reconstructions is shown.