Here we report sequence and phylogenetic analysis of two new isolates of Leishmania RNA virus 2 (LRV2) found in Leishmania major isolated from human patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis in south Uzbekistan. These new virus-infected flagellates were isolated in the same region of Uzbekistan and the viral sequences differed by only nineteen SNPs, all except one being silent mutations. Therefore, we concluded that they belong to a single LRV2 species. New viruses are closely related to the LRV2-Lmj-ASKH documented in Turkmenistan in 1995, which is congruent with their shared host (L. major) and common geographical origin.

CEITEC Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University 62500 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Molecular Biology Faculty of Biology Moscow State University 119991 Moscow Russia

Life Sciences Research Centre Faculty of Science University of Ostrava 71000 Ostrava Czech Republic

Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology Tropical and Vector Borne Diseases Sechenov University 119435 Moscow Russia

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