Trypanosoma cruzi discrete typing units (DTUs): microsatellite loci and population genetics of DTUs TcV and TcI in Bolivia and Peru.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, is usually subdivided into six discrete typing units (DTUs), TcI to TcVI, among which TcI and TcV are most common in human infections in Bolivia. Multilocus microsatellite typing (MLMT) was selected to further explore the structure of the natural populations belonging to these DTUs. The analysis showed that microsatellite clustering does not fully match the six DTUs, but it is relevant for the within DTUs analyses.