Genetic analyses of atypical Toxoplasma gondii strains reveal a fourth clonal lineage in North America.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread parasite of animals that causes zoonotic infections in humans. Previous studies have revealed a strongly clonal population structure in North America and Europe, while strains from South America are genetically separate and more diverse. However, the composition within North America has been questioned by recent descriptions of genetically more variable strains from this region. Here, we examined an expanded set of isolates using sequenced-based phylogenetic and population analyses to re-evaluate the population structure of T. gondii in North America. Our findings reveal that isolates previously defined by atypical restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns fall into two discrete groups. In one case, these new isolates represent variants of an exist

SUBMITTER: Khan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3081397 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature