Blastocystis Shows Low Diversity in Local Population, High Diversity World-Wide

A genetic study of Blastocystis obtained from a rural population in Central Mexico shows that the local population carries Blastocystis with much less genetic diversity than isolates found world-wide.  The researchers report that, “we collected and targeted the SSU-rDNA region in fecal samples from this population and further compared its genetic diversity and structure with that previously observed in populations of Blastocystis ST3 from other regions of the planet. Our analyses reveled that diversity of Blastocystis ST3 showed a high haplotype diversity and genetic structure to the world level; however, they were low in the Morelos population. The haplotype network revealed a common widespread haplotype from which the others were generated recently. Finally, our results suggested a recent expansion of the diversity of Blastocystis ST3 worldwide.”  The study was published in Biomed Research International.

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