Identification of Tunisian Leishmania spp. by PCR amplification of cysteine proteinase B (cpb) genes and phylogenetic analysis

► We set three species specific PCR based on the cysteine protease gene, for Old World Leishmania identification on Tunisian samples. ► We sequenced the amplified product for phylogenetic analysis. ► We compared multicopy (cpb) and single copy gene (nagt) markers. ► PCR analysis allowed successful congruent identification and discrimination between Tunisian Leishmania species and may be thus, a good alternative to MLEE. ► Our studies show that the cpb multicopy gene is an excellent marker.