Application of polymerase chain reaction with specific and arbitrary primers to identification and differentiation of Leishmania parasites

Riddhi Bhattacharyya, Rajan Singh, Tapas K. Hazra, Hemanta K. Majumder

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Two oligonucleotide primers Lsmc1 and Lsmv1 derived from the conserved and the variable region of a major class kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) minicircle (pLURkE3) of Leishmania strain UR6 were used for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in order to amplify a 461-bp fragment from the kDNAs of different Leishmania species. These primers amplify the specific fragment from the kDNAs of cutaneous species only. The cutaneous species can further be distinguished by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of the kDNAs of these organisms using arbitrarily chosen oligonucleotides. The arbitrary primers also generate polymorphic DNA fingerprints at the genomic level with different L. donovani isolates. The results indicate that the PCR and arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) may be extremely useful approaches for identifying and distinguishing Leishmania parasites.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-104
Number of pages6
JournalFEMS Microbiology Letters
Volume114
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 15 1993
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Leishmania species
  • Polymerase chain reaction
  • Polymorphism
  • Strain differentiation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

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