Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, exhibits considerable
genetic diversity as evidenced by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE)
and presents a basically clonal structure. Clonality in T. cruzi has
been mainly explored in domestic cycles. Nevertheless, in sylvatic cycles
the possibility of genetic exchange could be more frequent. However, recent
MLEE analysis of wild T. cruzi stocks from French Guiana suggested
that these sylvatic populations are basically clonal too. Moreover, a
previous study of several species of parasites showed that random amplified
polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was a suitable tool for evolutionary studies in
pathogenic microorganisms.