Clonal population structure of Colombian sylvatic Trypanosoma cruzi

Isoenzyme variability and evidence of genetic exchange were evaluated in 75 wild stocks of Trypanosoma cruzi obtained from different hosts from 5 geographical regions within the endemic area in Colombia. Cluster analysis of genetic variability was attempted. Thirty-three multilocus enzyme genotypes (clonets) were identified from 75 stocks, 27 of which clustered with zymodeme Z1 and 6 with zymodeme Z3. Two stocks isolated from human infections showed the potential risk to rural communities in Colombia. The stocks exhibited departures from Hardy-Weinberg expectations, including both fixed heterozygote and fixed homozygote demes, where both segregation and recombination were absent. To inspect for population subdivision that might falsely imply clonality in these stocks, Wright's F statistics were calculated. Theta values (Fst) were significantly different from 0 when 33 clonets, 27 Z1-like clonets, and 5 geographical subpopulations were compared; thus, a significant amount of divergence has occurred between and within them. In addition, linkage disequilibrium was detected for most possible pairwise comparisons of loci. In conclusion, the above results all support a scenario of long-term clonal evolution in Colombian sylvatic T. cruzi populations.