Molecular taxonomy of the two Leishmania vectors Lutzomyia umbratilis and Lutzomyia anduzei (Diptera: Psychodidae) from the Brazilian Amazon

Background: Lutzomyia umbratilis (a probable species complex) is the main vector of Leishmania guyanensis in the northern region of Brazil. Lutzomyia anduzei has been implicated as a secondary vector of this parasite. These species are closely related and exhibit high morphological similarity in the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Scarpassa, Vera Margarete, Alencar, Ronildo Baiatone
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:Brasil
Institución:Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional do INPA
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio:1/16038
Acceso en línea:https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/16038
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cytochrome C Oxidase
Dna
Dna, Mitochondrial
Brasil
Cladistics
Dna Barcoding
Dna Extraction
Dna Sequence
Genetic Distance
Haplotype
Leishmania
Leishmaniasis
Lutzomyia
Lutzomyia Anduzei
Lutzomyia Umbratilis
Nonhuman
Nucleotide Sequence
Parasite Vector
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Taxonomy
Diptera
Leishmania Guyanensis
Phlebotominae
Psychodidae
Animal
Disease Vectors
Haplotypes
Microscopy
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
Sequence Analysis, Dna
Sequence Homology
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Lutzomyia umbratilis (a probable species complex) is the main vector of Leishmania guyanensis in the northern region of Brazil. Lutzomyia anduzei has been implicated as a secondary vector of this parasite. These species are closely related and exhibit high morphological similarity in the adult stage; therefore, they have been wrongly identified, both in the past and in the present. This shows the need for employing integrated taxonomy. Methods. With the aim of gathering information on the molecular taxonomy and evolutionary relationships of these two vectors, 118 sequences of 663 base pairs (barcode region of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I - COI) were generated from 72 L. umbratilis and 46 L. anduzei individuals captured, respectively, in six and five localities of the Brazilian Amazon. The efficiency of the barcode region to differentiate the L. umbratilis lineages I and II was also evaluated. The data were analyzed using the pairwise genetic distances matrix and the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree, both based on the Kimura Two Parameter (K2P) evolutionary model. Results: The analyses resulted in 67 haplotypes: 32 for L. umbratilis and 35 for L. anduzei. The mean intra-specific genetic distance was 0.008 (0.002 to 0.010 for L. umbratilis; 0.008 to 0.014 for L. anduzei), whereas the mean interspecific genetic distance was 0.044 (0.041 to 0.046), supporting the barcoding gap. Between the L. umbratilis lineages I and II, it was 0.009 to 0.010. The NJ tree analysis strongly supported monophyletic clades for both L. umbratilis and L. anduzei, whereas the L. umbratilis lineages I and II formed two poorly supported monophyletic subclades. Conclusions: The barcode region clearly separated the two species and may therefore constitute a valuable tool in the identification of the sand fly vectors of Leishmania in endemic leishmaniasis areas. However, the barcode region had not enough power to separate the two lineages of L. umbratilis, likely reflecting incipient species that have not yet reached the status of distinct species. © 2013 Scarpassa and Alencar; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.