title: Molecular detection of Culicoides spp. and Culicoides imicola, the principal vector of bluetongue (BT) and African horse sickness (AHS) in Africa and Europe.
abstract: Bluetongue (BT) and African Horse Sickness (AHS) are infectious arthropod-borne viral diseases affecting ruminants and horses, respectively. Culicoides imicola Kieffer, 1913, a biting midge, is the principal vector of these livestock diseases in Africa and Europe. Recently bluetongue disease has re-emerged in the Mediterranean Basin and has had a devastating effect on the sheep industry in Italy and on the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics, but fortunately, has not penetrated onto mainland France and Spain. To survey for the presence of C. imicola, an extensive light-trap network for the collection of Culicoides, was implemented in 2002 in southern mainland France. The morphological identification of Culicoides can be both tedious and time-consuming because its size ranges from 1.5 to 3 mm. Therefore, an ITS1 rDNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assay was developed to rapidly and reliably identify Culicoides spp. and C. imicola. The aim of this work was to set up a rapid test for the detection of C. imicola amongst a pool of insects collected in areas at risk for BT. The sequence similarity of the rDNA (nuclear ribosomal DNA), which is greater within species than between species, is the foundation of its utilisation in species-diagnostic assays. The alignment of the 11 ITS1 sequences of Culicoides obtained from Genbank and EMBL databases helped us to identify one region in the 5' end and one in the 3' end that appear highly conserved. PCR primers were designed within these regions to amplify genus-specific fragments. In order to set up a C. imicola-specific PCR, another forward primer was designed and used in combination with the previously designed reverse primer. These primers proved to be highly specific and sensitive and permitted a rapid diagnostic separation of C. imicola from Culicoides spp.
authors.affiliation: CIRAD-EMVT, Campus international de Baillarguet, TA30/G, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. catherine.cetre-sossah@cirad.fr
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cêtre-Sossah
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baldet
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Delécolle
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathieu
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grillet
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Albina
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000355:African Horse Sickness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002519:Ceratopogonidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D005060:Europe; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D006736:Horses; D007303:Insect Vectors; D019083:Mediterranean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004247:DNA