Rapid identification of Trypanosoma cruzi isolates by ‘dot‐spot’ hybridization

Abstract

The presence of isolate-specific Trypanosoma cruzi minicircles has been shown in the kinetoplast DNA of this parasite. This led to the rapid identification of isolates and clones of trypanosomes by means of ‘dot-spot’ hybridizations with molecularly cloned minicircle probes. Unexpectedly, whole kDNAs were also suitable as probes for this purpose, provided that filters were washed under stringent conditions. This was attributed to the presence of the above-mentioned isolate-specific minicircle sequences. The fact that parasites could be directly spotted onto nitrocellulose filters simplified the rapid routine screening of a large number of samples.