Amplification of small subunit rRNA sequences from Brazilian clinical isolates of Trypanosomatidae spp.. SSU rRNA sequences of trypanosomatids.

Promastigote cultures were stablished from clinical isolates obtained from patients diagnosed with leishmaniasis in northeast region of Brazil. In order to type parasite species, we performed DNA extraction from promastigote culture to amplify small subunit RNA sequences by PCR using primers described by Noyes et al (International Journal for Parasitology v. 29, p. 331-339, 1999). Amplicons were sequenced by Sanger method and phylogenetic analysis showed that the parasites were more related to other Leishmaniinae parasites, such as Crithidia and Leptomonas (one-host parasites exclusive for insects), rather than Leishmania species.