First evidence of experimental genetic hybridization between cutaneous and visceral strains of Leishmania donovani within its natural vector Phlebotomus argentipes.

ABSTRACT: Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by protozoan parasites of genus Leishmania, and transmitted by different species of Phlebotomine sand flies. More than 20 species of Leishmania are known to cause disease in humans and other animals. Leishmania donovani species complex is known to have a vast diversity of clinical manifestations in humans, but underlying mechanisms for such diversity are yet unknown. Long believed to be strictly asexual, Leishmania have been shown to undergo a cryptic sexual cycle inside its sandfly vector. Natural populations of hybrid parasites have been associated with the rise of atypical clinical outcomes in the Indian subcontinent (ISC). However, formal demonstration of genetic crossing in the major endemic sandfly species in the ISC remain unexplo

SUBMITTER: Riyal H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11332911 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature