[The identification of marker strains of Leishmania major, L. turanica and L. gerbilli by the polymer chain reaction with a universal primer].

The Leningrad Nuclear Physics Institute, Academy of Science of the USSR, and Martsinovskiĭ Institute of Medical Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, USSR Ministry of Health, developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique with universal primer 3-2 for Leishmania identification. The primers were patented in the USSR (Patent No 4757254, 1989). Reference strains of three Leishmania species were identified: L. major--MRHO/SU/59/Neal P; L. gerbilli--MRHO/CN/60/gerbilli; L. turanica--MRHO/SU/80/Cl 3720 and MRHO/SU/83/KD 051. Each Leishmania species is specific and different in its PCR pattern whereas the two L. turanica strains have identical PCR patterns of the given primer.