<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>“Filariasis free India” is National Health Policy’s vision. Currently, India has undertaken Mass Drug Administration drive (MDA) to eliminate the filariasis infection. Taking this into account, the emergence of new <italic>Wuchereria bancrofti</italic> resistant strains against the current choice of drugs cannot be ruled out. In this study, we report the genetic diversity of <italic>Wuchereria bancrofti</italic> from four districts (Amravati, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Wardha) of Vidarbha, a region in the eastern part of Maharashtra state of India and considered a hot spot of filariasis infections. The RAPD profiles were generated for 21 populations using nine random RAPD primers. The RAPD-PCR based distance matrix shows maximum genetic distance of 0.425 between the parasites from Nagpur and Amravati region and minimum genetic distance of 0.210 between the parasites of Wardha and Nagpur. The tree inferred by Neighbour-Joining (NJ) method shows four distinct clusters. With the single exception of isolates from Amravati, all other clusters show the intermingling of isolates with other districts. Further, the representation of isolates from Chandrapur in three out of four clusters revealed to be a founder and indicates towards the entry of the filarial worm into the Maharashtra state through southern route.</p></abstract>

“Filariasis free India” is National Health Policy’s vision. Currently, India has undertaken Mass Drug Administration drive (MDA) to eliminate the filariasis infection. Taking this into account, the emergence of new Wuchereria bancrofti resistant strains against the current choice of drugs cannot be ruled out. In this study, we report the genetic diversity of Wuchereria bancrofti from four districts (Amravati, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Wardha) of Vidarbha, a region in the eastern part of Maharashtra state of India and considered a hot spot of filariasis infections. The RAPD profiles were generated for 21 populations using nine random RAPD primers. The RAPD-PCR based distance matrix shows maximum genetic distance of 0.425 between the parasites from Nagpur and Amravati region and minimum genetic distance of 0.210 between the parasites of Wardha and Nagpur. The tree inferred by Neighbour-Joining (NJ) method shows four distinct clusters. With the single exception of isolates from Amravati, all other clusters show the intermingling of isolates with other districts. Further, the representation of isolates from Chandrapur in three out of four clusters revealed to be a founder and indicates towards the entry of the filarial worm into the Maharashtra state through southern route.

Report of high genetic diversity of filarial worm, <italic>Wuchereria bancrofti</italic> from endemic region of Eastern Maharashtra (India)

Laboratory of Molecular and Conservaion Genetics

Department of Zoology, Government Vidarbha Institute of Science and Humanities

Department of Zoology, Shri Shivaji College of Arts, Commerce and Science

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Report of high genetic diversity of filarial worm,  from endemic region of Eastern Maharashtra (India)

“Filariasis free India” is National Health Policy’s vision. Currently, India has undertaken Mass Drug Administration drive (MDA) to eliminate the filariasis...

Report of high genetic diversity of filarial worm, Wuchereria bancrofti from endemic region of Eastern Maharashtra (India)

Published Online: Nov 01, 2017

Page range: 292 - 297

Received: Nov 10, 2016

Accepted: Jun 26, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helm-2017-0043

Keywords
Genetic diversity, Lymphatic filariasis, RAPD – PCR, Vidarbha

© 2017 A. L. Mahakalkar et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Report of high genetic diversity of filarial worm, Wuchereria bancrofti from endemic region of Eastern Maharashtra (India)

Published Online: Nov 01, 2017

Page range: 292 - 297

Received: Nov 10, 2016

Accepted: Jun 26, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/helm-2017-0043

KeywordsGenetic diversity, Lymphatic filariasis, RAPD – PCR, Vidarbha

© 2017 A. L. Mahakalkar et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Genetic diversity, Lymphatic filariasis, RAPD – PCR, Vidarbha