Evolutionary history of Leishmania killicki (synonymous Leishmania tropica) and taxonomic implications

摘要

Background: Leishmania (L.) killicki is responsible for the chronic cutaneous leishmaniasis. Theudtaxonomic status of this parasite is still not well defined. It was suggested on one hand to includeudthis taxon within L. tropica complex but also on the other hand to consider it as a distinctudphylogenetic complex. The present work represents the more detailed study on the evolutionaryudhistory of L. killicki relative to L. tropica and the taxonomic implications.udMethods: Thirty five L. killicki and 25 L. tropica strains isolated from humans and from severaludcountries were characterized using the MultiLocus Enzyme Electrophoresis (MLEE) and theudMultiLocus Sequence Typing (MLST) approaches.udResults: The genetic and phylogenetic analyses strongly support that L. killicki belongs to L.udtropica complex. The study suggests the emergence of L. killicki by a funder effect followed by anudindependent evolution from L. tropica, but does not validate the species status of this taxon. In thisudcontext, we suggest to call this taxon L. killicki (synonymous L. tropica) until furtherudepidemiological and phylogenetic studies justify the L. killicki denomination.udConclusions: These findings provided taxonomic and phylogenetic informations on L. killicki andudhelped to better know the evolutionary history of this taxon.