American trypanosomiasis is a common zoonosis in Colombia
and
Trypanosoma cruzi
presents a wide distribution throughout the country. Although some studies
based on enzyme electrophoresis profiles have described the population structure
of the parasite, very few molecular analyses of genotipic markers have been
conducted using Colombian strains. In this study, we amplified the non-transcribed
spacer of the mini-gene by PCR, typing the isolates as
T. cruzi
I,
T. cruzi
zymodeme 3 or
T. rangeli
. In addition, the internal transcribed spacers of the ribosomal gene concomitant
with the 5.8S rDNA were amplified and submitted to restriction fragment
polymorphism analysis. The profiles were analyzed by a numerical methodology
generating a phenetic dendrogram that shows heterogeneity among the
T. cruzi
isolates. This finding suggests a relationship between the complexity of
the sylvatic transmission cycle in Colombia and the diversity of the sylvan
parasites.
