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Identification of bloodmeals in haematophagous Diptera by cytochrome B heteroduplex analysis
Author(s) -
Boakye D. A.,
Tang J.,
Truc P.,
Merriweather A.,
Unnasch T. R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
medical and veterinary entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.028
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2915
pISSN - 0269-283X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2915.1999.00193.x
Subject(s) - biology , heteroduplex , cytochrome b , host (biology) , genetics , simulium , dna , gene , virology , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , mitochondrial dna , larva , ecology
Summary We developed a DNA assay for bloodmeal identification in haematophagous insects. Specific host cytochrome B gene sequences were amplified by PCR and classified on the basis of their mobility in a heteroduplex assay. In the blackfly Simulium damnosum s.l. (Diptera: Simuliidae), human cytochrome B DNA sequences were identifiable up to 3 days following ingestion of the bloodmeal. In the tsetse Glossina palpalis (Diptera: Glossinidae) collected from tsetse traps in Ivory Coast, bloodmeals were identified as taken from domestic pigs on the basis of their heteroduplex pattern and DNA sequence. Evidently the cytochrome B sequence shows sufficient interspecific variation to distinguish between mammalian host samples, while exhibiting minimal intraspecific variation. The stability of DNA in bloodmeals, for several days post‐ingestion by haematophagous insects, allows PCR‐HDA assays to be used reliably for host identification.