Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

DNA Fingerprinting of Mycobacterium leprae Strains Using Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) - Fragment Length Analysis (FLA)
Published on: July 15, 2011
[Validation of DNA tools in the identification of Leishmania sp. parasites in Algeria]
Abstract:
The present study aimed at homogenizing the use of DNA tools for Leishmania parasite characterization in two endemic countries, Algeria and Tunisia. Two genomic DNA probes, pDK10 and pDK20, previously developped in Tunisia, were here applied to a collection of 41 isolates obtained from Algerian patients having cutaneous or visceral leishmaniases. These DNA tools allowed to discriminate among and to identify causal agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis, L. infantum and L. major. Apart from the pDK20--hybridization pattern obtained usually for the species L. infantum, new hybridization patterns were identified for isolates obtained from both visceral and cutaneous leishmaniases patients. Use of DNA probes in complement to isoenzyme typing offers interesting propects for a better description of transmission cycles.
Related Concept Videos
Methods of Classification and Identification
Rapid Identification of Pathogens
Leishmaniasis

