Molecular karyotype variation in Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana: indication of geographical populations in Peru distributed along a north-south cline.

Forty-one Leishmania peruviana isolates were selected along a north-south transect which crossed areas endemic for uta in three different biogeographical regions in the Peruvian Andes. The isolates were analysed by molecular karyotyping and hybridization with three chromosome-derived DNA probes. All the isolates could be distinguished from L. braziliensis by their pLb-134 hybridization patterns. However, the patterns with the other probes (pLb-168 and -22) could be used to cluster the Peruvian isolates in discrete groups (karyodemes) which varied in their level of similarity with L. braziliensis. The geographical distribution of these karyodemes supports the hypothesis that eco-graphical isolation has contributed to the heterogeneity of L. peruviana.