Background: Leishmaniasis is an important public health parasitic infection, which is endemic in many parts of the world, including Iran. We aimed to investigate genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship among different Leishmania isolates using Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST). Methods: Totally, 41 isolates collected either from patients referred to Leishmaniasis Diagnostics and Treatment Center at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran or from animals during 2019-2021, were subjected to the study. They included L. major and L. tropica from human, L. infantum from canine, and L. turanica from rodents from different endemic foci of Iran analyzed using MLST including gp63, g6pdh, lack, nagt, and hsp70 genes. Results: A total of 5010 bps was analyzed from each isolate. The three targets, nagt, lack, and g6pdh, generated better topology comparing to the other genes. In the 44 isolates, 22 haplotypes (STs) were identified. Leishmania tropica contained the highest number of haplotypes (n=12) comparing to L. major (n=8), L. infantum (n=1) and L. turanica (n=1). All five genomic loci caused separation of Iranian Leishmania species at the species level, indicating conservation of these genes in the Leishmania parasite. Conclusion: The highest number of haplotypes belonged to L. tropica, indicating that the genetic diversity of this species is higher than that of L. major. It was further confirmed that the MLST is a suitable method to examine genetic variation of Leishmania parasites with respect to evolutionary and epidemiological studies.

Aims: Bordetella pertussis is a gram negative and obligated aerobic bacterium that causes pertussis disease and it is a specific pathogen in human. Pertussis is an acute respiratory infection and leads to death in infants. The aim of this study was to analyze housekeeping genes in Bordetella pertussis vaccine strains by Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST). Materials & Methods: In the present experimental study, 4 samples of 134 and 509 bacterial strains and 2 standard samples of Tohama I, and 18323 were collected. After biochemical tests, the samples were cultured and separated and the genomic purification of DNA was done by Phenol– chloroform technique and analyzed by MLST. After genome sequencing, the analysis was performed by standard software such as Clustalw 2, MEGA 5. 04, and DNASIS Max 3. Sequence similarity of 16S rDNA gene nucleotides was performed, using BLAST software with Sequences recorded in the GenBank genome database to compare and determine the Sequences similarity. Findings: Regarding the created bands and the Sequence of the game, the housekeeping genes in Bordetella pertussis vaccine strains were approved. The results of the PCR reaction for Pgm, Icd, Gly A, and Tyr B genes showed that all specimens have homogenous genes with a molecular weight of 500bp. Conclusion: Evaluating the housekeeping genes in Bordetella pertussis vaccine strains by MLST vaccine strains (Razi Institute; Iran) correspond with international standard series and no change or deviation has occurred in the studied genes.

Background & Objectives: Staphylococcus epidermidisis one of the main causes of urinary tract infections and second cause of respiratory infections in human. The aim of this study was genoTyping S. epidermidis strains isolated from nosocomial infections and detection of genetic clones using Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) method.Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 16 S. epidermidis isolates were selected and PCR products from amplification of seven housekeeping genes were Sequenced. The nucleotide Sequences of each gene in each isolate were analyzed in the MLST database and, besides identifying different clones, gene - specific alleles in each Sequence types (ST) were determined.Results: A total of 3 clones including ST22, ST88 and ST153 were identified from 16 isolates, which was classified into two gene clusters of A and B. ST22 clone with a frequency of 50%, ST88 with 31.25% and ST153 with 18.75% were identified. The most dominant S. epidermidis clone isolated in 16 isolates is ST22.Conclusion: Dendrogram analysis of the isolates showed the homology of all isolates to alleles previously reported. Furthermore, our results suggest the genetic diversity of the isolates.

Background: Helicobacter pylori bacterium is responsible for gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer, duodenal ulcer, and mucosal membrane lymphoma. There is a tremendous variety among H. pylori strains. By 2010, ten different populations of H. pylori were identified. The geographical differences between strains may be the explanation for the difference in prevalence of diseases associated with H. pylori in some areas. Various methods have been developed, such as PFGE Southern Blot Analysis-RiboTyping Plasmid Analysis, Rep-PCR and Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) for Typing H. pylori. Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the molecular epidemiology and gene variation of H. pylori isolates from patients with gastroduodenal diseases using Sequence Typing of seventy structural genes. Methods: Two biopsy samples were taken from patients with gastrointestinal disorders. The urease test was performed on one of the samples, the other was cultured on Columbia agar with sheep blood, and then DNA was extracted. Seven structural genes were proliferated with designed primers and then were Sequenced. The results were recorded on the MLST and Genbank, as well as the allele numbers and Sequence types were determined. Data were analyzed by MEGAv6 and START v2 software. Results: The allele numbers and Sequence types of H. pylori strains were unique, and were not recorded previously in the MLST database. The strains of H. pylori isolated from Kermanshah belonged to the hpEurop population. Conclusions: Due to the unique nature of strains and their various Sequences, the strains were located in separate clones. Accordingly, none of them could handle the role of type strain in Kermanshah.