Emerging Infectious Diseases (May 2023)

Genome Analysis of Triploid Hybrid Leishmania Parasite from the Neotropics

  • Frederik Van den Broeck,
  • Senne Heeren,
  • Ilse Maes,
  • Mandy Sanders,
  • James A. Cotton,
  • Elisa Cupolillo,
  • Eugenia Alvarez,
  • Lineth Garcia,
  • Maureen Tasia,
  • Alice Marneffe,
  • Jean-Claude Dujardin,
  • Gert Van der Auwera

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2905.221456
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 29, no. 5
pp. 1076 – 1078

Abstract

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We discovered a hybrid Leishmania parasite in Costa Rica that is genetically similar to hybrids from Panama. Genome analyses demonstrated the hybrid is triploid and identified L. braziliensis and L. guyanensis–related strains as parents. Our findings highlight the existence of poorly sampled Leishmania (Viannia) variants infectious to humans.

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