ISOENZYMATIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ETIOLOGIC AGENT OF CANINE LEISHMANIASIS IN THE GRANADA REGION OF SOUTHERN SPAIN

Sixty-four strains of Leishmania of canine origin, 61 visceral and three cutaneous, were isoenzymatically examined. These were collected from 23 sites in the Granada region in southern Spain. Starch gel was used in electrophoresis and a total of 15 enzymes were studied. All of the visceral strains and two of the cutaneous ones were identified as L. infantum zymodeme GR-1(= MON-1). The third cutaneous strain was of a different zymodeme, belonging to the same complex but differing in the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (= 105) enzyme. This zymodeme has been named GR-16 and is equivalent to L. infantum MON-105; it has not been previously reported in dogs or any other animal reservoir.