Figure 5.

A schematic of the evolution of T. cruzi groups. Boxes represent extant groups and their ancestral progenitors. The lines connecting boxes represent periods of clonal reproduction. Arrows represent contributions of various DTUs to form new hybrid strains. From a common ancestral universal genotype, two different genotypes arose that are represented today as DTUs I and IIb. Strains from these DTUs subsequently hybridized to produce DTUs IIa and IIc. A second hybridization between strains from DTUs IIb and IIc produced DTUs IId and IIe.