Algo

FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 45 (2005) 451–458 www.fems-microbiology.org

Geographical distribution of genetic polymorphism of the pathogen Histoplasma capsulatum isolated from infected bats, captured in a central zone of Mexico
´ ´ Maria Lucia Taylor a,*, Catalina B. Chavez-Tapia b, Alberto Rojas-Martınez c, a d ´˜ Maria del Rocio Reyes-Montes , Mirian Bobadilla del Valle ,Gerardo Zuniga
a

e

´ ´ ´ ´ Laboratorio de Inmunologıa de Hongos, Departamento de Microbiologıa y Parasitologıa, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de ´ ´ Mexico (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico DF, 04510, Mexico b ´ ´ ´ ´ Laboratorio de Zoologıa, FES-Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico DF, 54090, Mexico c ´ ´ ´ ´ Escuela de Biologıa, UniversidadSimon Bolıvar, Mexico DF, 03920, Mexico d ´ ´ ´ ´ Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion ‘‘Salvador Zubiran’’, Mexico DF, 14000, Mexico e ´ ´ ´ ´ Departamento de Zoologıa, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico DF, 11340, Mexico Received 2 May 2005; accepted 27 May 2005 First published online 19 July 2005

Abstract Fourteen Histoplasmacapsulatum isolates recovered from infected bats captured in Mexican caves and two human H. capsulatum reference strains were analyzed using random amplification of polymorphic DNA PCR-based and partial DNA sequences of four genes. Cluster analysis of random amplification of polymorphic DNA-patterns revealed differences for two H. capsulatum isolates of one migratory bat Tadarida brasiliensis. Three groupswere identified by distance and maximum-parsimony analyses of arf, H-anti, ole, and tub1 H. capsulatum genes. Group I included most isolates from infected bats and one clinical strain from central Mexico; group II included the two isolates from T. brasiliensis; the human G-217B reference strain from USA formed an independent group III. Isolates from group II showed diversity in relation to groups Iand III, suggesting a different H. capsulatum population. Ó 2005 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Infected bats; Histoplasma capsulatum; RAPD-patterns; DNA sequences

1. Introduction The pathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum-Darling 1906 is frequently found in the guano accumulated underneath batcolonies in confined spaces, such as caves, abandoned mines, and uninhabited houses [1]. Nutrients from guano together with soil and environmental conditions constitute the ecological niche of this microorganism [2–8]. By raisCorresponding author. Tel.: +52 55 5623 2462; fax: +52 55 5573 5564. E-mail address: emello@servidor.unam.mx (M.L. Taylor).
*

ing the temperature and humidity, bat colonies mayalso influence the physical parameters necessary for fungal survival and reproduction. The role of bats in spreading H. capsulatum was first proposed by Hoff and Bigler [9]; however, the influence of bats on the ecology of H. capsulatum remains unclear, especially their potential to disperse the pathogenic agent in nature. The high risk of natural bat infection with H. capsulatum in Mexican caveenvironments has been welldocumented [7,10]; and the first molecular approaches involving H. capsulatum isolates from infected bats ´ were reported by Chavez-Tapia et al. [10], Taylor

0928-8244/$22.00 Ó 2005 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.femsim.2005.05.019

452

M.L. Taylor et al. / FEMS Immunology and MedicalMicrobiology 45 (2005) 451–458

et al. [11] and Kasuga et al. [12]. In consequence, the ability to distinguish isolates of the fungus in infected bats, based on genetic patterns, could provide a biological marker to better define the distribution of H. capsulatum polymorphism in specific geographic areas. Histoplasma capsulatum is distributed worldwide, but its presence is relevant in those...