Estudio de variabilidad genética en aislamientos de Leptospira spp., en sistemas bovinos de carne y doble propósito

Abstract

Leptospira spp. serovars were isolated from bovine kidney and urine in the Cundinamarca and Meta departments of Colombia. The isolates were classified by both, phylogenetic analysis and ribotyping, using 16SDNAr as a marker gene. The Phylogenetic analysis allowed the classification of the isolates into two of the three genomaspecies recognized: pathogenic and intermediate. The latter is of great importance because its immunological behavior in a host is unknown and this could generate variable answers. Ribotyping yielded “ribopatterns” of four Leptospira isolates and five reference strains with major identity; the analysis showed the presence of two predominant profiles in the four isolates. One profile was in line with the intermediate reference strain and the other profile was similar to the pathogenic reference strain, Copenhageni and Lai serovars. The isolate by phylogenetic analysis was placed within the intermediate type Leptospiras and its pathogenicity is still under study. The phylogenetic analysis of Leptospira species based on comparative sequences of 16SDNAr gene confirmed the possibility of identifying three groups according to their pathogenic status (pathogenic, intermediate and saprophytic), where the taxonomic purpose of the markers, showed consistent results in obtaining sequences of the 16SDNAr gene, grouped in a phylogenetic tree.