Use of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) to distinguish between nematodes of pathogenic significance

The availability of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) would be useful for studying the extent of diversity among morphologically indistinguishable populations of filarial parasites. Such polymorphisms may be useful in correlating various physiological and clinical differences with parasite heterogeneity. In order to identify such RFLPs, we isolated DNA from microfilaria of 6 filarial species (Acanthocheilonema viteae, Brugia malayi, Brugia pahangi, Dirofilaria immitis, Litomosoides carinii and Setaria digitatum), digested the DNA with several restriction endonucleases, prepared Southern blots and probed with 32P-labelled DNA probes. The patterns of fragments generated using two restriction endonucleases, Mbo I and Taq I, in combination with two probes, rDNA from the free-living soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and pBM103, an anonymous DNA probe from B. malayi, unequivocally distinguish between all 6 of the species. To ensure that the differences we observed between the species represent true interspecies variation rather than fortuitous individual variations we analysed DNA from several individual B. malayi and B. pahangi worms. The individual B. malayi worms demonstrated restriction profiles that were invariant, as did the individual B. pahangi worms, demonstrating that the differences we observed were true interspecies variations.