First Evidence of Intraclonal Genetic Exchange in Trypanosomatids Using Two Leishmania infantum Fluorescent Transgenic Clones

摘要

Background The mode of reproduction in Leishmania spp has been argued to be essentially clonal. However, recent data (genetic analysis of populations and co-infections in sand flies) have proposed the existence of a non-obligate sexual cycle in the extracellular stage of the parasite within the sand fly vector. In this article we propose the existence of intraclonal genetic exchange in the natural vector of Leishmania infantum.