Extensive structural variation in the genome of Leishmania infantum
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Leishmania infantum (LI) is a protist parasite and causative agent of leishmaniasis, endemic to many countries world-wide (Figure 1).
Emerging drug-resistant LI is one of the most relevant neglected tropical disease, as it is responsible for 12M infections w/w and more than 25,000 deaths.
LI genome has 36 chromosomes (32 Mb), complex and unstable with extensive structural variations (Figure 2).
Leishmania spp. regulate their protein expression by genome and gene copy expansion.
Copy number variation (CNV) can be used as biomarkers for virulence and resistance.