DNA fingerprints: a tool for identification and determination of the relationships between species and strains of Leishmania.

Using nonradioactive hybridization, the multilocal probes 33.15, F10 and (CAC)5 were shown to recognize multiple minisatellite regions in nuclear DNA of Leishmania, producing on Southern blots complex banding patterns typical of DNA fingerprints. We used the 33.15 probe to study 14 different strains belonging to 6 different species from both the sub-genus Viannia and the Leishmania mexicana complex of the sub-genus Leishmania. Distinct DNA fingerprints were obtained for each strain, permitting their identification. On the other hand, each strain showed little or no clonal variation. The information from the fingerprinting maps could be used for constructing phenograms and cladograms of the species and strains of Leishmania.