Molecular Characterization of Clinical Leishmania Major Isolates Harboring ITS1 Homology Similar to the One in Crithidia spp

Leishmaniasis is caused by the protozoan Leishmania spp. In some loci from Iran, some isolates have ITS1 like the one in Crithidia spp. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed molecular characters of the mentioned isolates. DNA was extracted from all clinical isolates harboring ITS1 like the one in Crithidia spp. Amplification was performed using the specific primer pair of 13A/13B and followed by sequencing. The sequences were assessed using BLASTn, multiple alignment, T-coffee, and Vector NTI. Phylogenic tree was used for grouping and analyzing the isolates. Findings: Sequencing analyzing showed low heterogeneity among the mentioned isolates, but high heterogeneity between the mentioned isolates and the ones in genbank, therefore the mentioned isolates were grouped separately. Moreover, although ITS1 from the mentioned isolates were homolog to the ones in Crithodia spp., but 13A/13B loci on mitochondria showed homology with Leishmania. As Crithidia is a monoxenous, and its natural host is flies, finding its genes in the agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis may show these parasites may meet each other in sandfly. Till now, no sexual reproduction has been reported in Leishmania spp., therefore it is likely recombinant.