Heterogeneity of the internal transcribed spacer region in Leishmania tropica isolates from southern Iran

- Four haplotypes were identified among the south Iran L. tropica isolates.
- All variations occurred in microsatellite regions and were due SNP.
- Iranian L. tropica consists of at least two different populations.
- The southeast Iranian L. tropica showed a homogeneous population structure.
- The south Iranian population was phylogenetically closer to Indian isolates.

Most of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases occur in only 7 countries, including Iran. Leishmania tropica is the main cause of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. In order to study the heterogeneity and phylogeny of L. tropica in southern Iran, a total of 61 isolates were obtained from Bam district and the cities Kerman and Shiraz. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) from the ribosomal DNA locus was amplified and then analysed by sequencing. Analysis of the ITS sequences showed four haplotypes in the isolates, including 3 haplotypes among the 58 isolates from the south eastern region, including Bam district and Kerman city, and 2 haplotypes among the 3 isolates from Shiraz city. The results showed a monophyletic structure for the south eastern population. In comparison to GenBank sequences of L. tropica from different countries, most of the southeast Iranian and Indian isolates are comprised in one cluster, while isolates from other countries and few other Iranian isolates group in a different cluster. Analysis of ITS sequences of south eastern L. tropica showed a homogeneous population which could be the basis for other molecular epidemiology studies using more discriminative markers and tracing possible changes in the population structure of L. tropica.