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. 2015 Mar 23:8:173.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-0787-4.

Molecular detection of Leishmania DNA and identification of blood meals in wild caught phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from southern Portugal

Carla Maia  1 , Ricardo Parreira  2   3 , José Manuel Cristóvão  4 , Ferdinando Bernardino Freitas  5 , Maria Odete Afonso  6 , Lenea Campino  7   8
Affiliations

Molecular detection of Leishmania DNA and identification of blood meals in wild caught phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) from southern Portugal

Carla Maia et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum which is transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae) is endemic in the Mediterranean basin. The main objectives of this study were to (i) detect Leishmania DNA and (ii) identify blood meal sources in wild caught female sand flies in the zoonotic leishmaniasis region of Algarve, Portugal/Southwestern Europe.

Methods: Phlebotomine sand flies were collected using CDC miniature light traps and sticky papers. Sand flies were identified morphologically and tested for Leishmania sp. by PCR using ITS-1 as the target sequence. The source of blood meal of the engorged females was determined using the cyt-b sequence.

Results: Out of the 4,971 (2,584 males and 2,387 females) collected sand flies, Leishmania DNA was detected by PCR in three females (0.13%), specifically in two specimens identified on the basis of morphological features as Sergentomyia minuta and one as Phlebotomus perniciosus. Haematic preferences, as defined by the analysis of cyt-b DNA amplified from the blood-meals detected in the engorged female specimens, showed that P. perniciosus fed on a wide range of domestic animals while human and lizard DNA was detected in engorged S. minuta.

Conclusions: The anthropophilic behavior of S. minuta together with the detection of Leishmania DNA highlights the need to determine the role played by this species in the transmission of Leishmania parasites to humans. In addition, on-going surveillance on Leishmania vectors is crucial as the increased migration and travelling flow elevate the risk of introduction and spread of infections by Leishmania species which are non-endemic.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree (midpoint rooted) of Leishmania ITS-1 sequences amplified from phlebotomine sand flies collected in Portugal. The percentages of significant (≥77%) bootstrap values of 1000 resamplings of the original data are indicated at specific branch-nodes. The size bar indicates 0.02 substitutions per site.
Figure 2
Figure 2
NeighborNet network constructed with SplitsTree software employing the matrix of genetic distances (corrected with the K2P formula) between individual Leishmania ITS-1 sequences amplified from phlebotomine sand flies collected in Portugal, and reference sequences.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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