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Identification of mosquito bloodmeals using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b gene sequences
Author(s) -
TOWNZEN J. S.,
BROWER A. V. Z.,
JUDD D. D.
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1111/j.1365-2915.2008.00760.x
Subject(s) - biology , genbank , cytochrome c oxidase subunit i , mitochondrial dna , genetics , cytochrome c oxidase , primer (cosmetics) , gene , cytochrome b , cytochrome , microbiology and biotechnology , protein subunit , mitochondrion , biochemistry , enzyme , chemistry , organic chemistry
Primer pairs were designed and protocols developed to selectively amplify segments of vertebrate mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and cytochrome b (Cyt b ) mtDNA from the bloodmeals of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). The protocols use two pairs of nested COI primers and one pair of Cyt b primers to amplify short segments of DNA. Resultant sequences are then compared with sequences in GenBank, using the BLAST function, for putative host identification. Vertebrate DNA was amplified from 88% of our sample of 162 wild‐caught, blood‐fed mosquitoes from Oregon, U.S.A. and GenBank BLAST searches putatively identified 98% of the amplified sequences, including one amphibian, seven mammalian and 14 avian species. Criteria and caveats for putative identification of bloodmeals are discussed.