Genetic differences between two Leishmania major-like strains revealed by suppression subtractive hybridization

• L. major-like strains were isolated from human cases in Brazil.
• Those strains exhibited different degrees of virulence for the murine macrophages.
• Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) technique identified differentially expression genes between the strains.
• Phosphoglycan β-1,3-galactosyltransferase gene was highly expressed in the virulent BH49 strain.

Leishmania major, the causative agent of zoonotic leishmaniasis, is restricted to Old World countries. Molecular and biochemical techniques have been used to identify some L. major-like isolated in South America including Brazil. Here, two L. major-like strains, one virulent (BH49) and one non-virulent (BH121), were subjected to suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) technique in order to identify differentially expressed genes. SSH technique identified nine cDNA fragments exhibiting high homology to previously sequenced L. major genes. Five cDNAs (four specific for BH49 and one for BH121) were confirmed by RT-PCR. Among those differentially expressed subtracted genes, some were involved in physiological processes including metabolism, translation and destination of proteins, production of energy, virulence factors and unknown functions. Western-blot analysis confirmed a higher expression level of β-1,3-galactosyl residues in L. major-like lipophosphoglycan (LPG). This molecular analysis opens the possibility for identification of potential virulence factors not only in different strains, but also in others species of Leishmania.

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