PCR-RFLP analysis: a promising technique for host species identification of blood meals from tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae).
A polymerase chain reaction with the restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method using universal primers complementary to the conserved region of the cytochrome b gene (cyt b) of the mitochondrion DNA (mtDNA) of vertebrates was applied to the identification of the origin of blood meals in tsetse flies. Blood samples from ten potential tsetse hosts of the family bovidae (cattle, water buffalo, red buffalo, waterbuck, springbok, goat, sheep, sable antelope, oryx and dik-dik) were included in this study. Sites for appropriate restriction endonucleases cuts were chosen by pairwise alignment of the amplified 359 bp fragments. A flow chart of endonucleases digestion using three restriction enzymes (e.g. TaqI, AluI and HindII) for the unequivocal identification of the respective bovid species was developed. A number of additional non-specific DNA fragments attributed to the co-amplification of cytochrome b pseudogenes were observed in some species (e.g. in red buffalo and dik-dik after digestion with AluI) but did not hamper assignment of bovid species. The detection rate of host DNA in tsetse by PCR-RFLP was 100, 80, 60 and 40% at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after in vitro feeding, respectively. Identification of the last blood meal was possible even when tsetse had previously fed on different hosts.
Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Diedersdorfer Weg 1, 12277 Berlin, Germany. stephan.steuber@bvl.bund.de
Stephan
S
Steuber
Ahmed
A
Abdel-Rady
Peter-Henning
PH
Clausen
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D002417:Cattle; D003573:Cytochrome b Group / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis; D004064:Digestive System / Q000469:parasitology; D005518:Food Preferences; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000097:blood; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012418:Ruminants / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D014370:Tsetse Flies / Q000502:physiology*
D003573:Cytochrome b Group; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004247:DNA