Multiple mitochondrial introgression events and heteroplasmy in trypanosoma cruzi revealed by maxicircle MLST and next generation sequencing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mitochondrial DNA is a valuable taxonomic marker due to its relatively fast rate of evolution. In Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, the mitochondrial genome has a unique structural organization consisting of 20-50 maxicircles (∼20 kb) and thousands of minicircles (0.5-10 kb). T. cruzi is an early diverging protist displaying remarkable genetic heterogeneity and is recognized as a complex of six discrete typing units (DTUs). The majority of infected humans are asymptomatic for life while 30-35% develop potentially fatal cardiac and/or digestive syndromes. However, the relationship between specific clinical outcomes and T. cruzi genotype remains elusive. The availability of whole genome sequences has driven advances in high resolution genotyping tec

SUBMITTER: Messenger LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3323513 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature