Identification in triatomine vectors of feeding sources and Trypanosoma cruzi variants by heteroduplex assay and a multiplex miniexon polymerase chain reaction.
Feeding sources of triatomine vectors (Triatoma longipennis) collected in peridomiciles in Mexico were identified by a heteroduplex assay developed with triatomine blood meals. Trypanosoma cruzi parasites were also characterized in the same blood meal samples by multiplex-polymerase chain reaction assay of mini-exon gene inter-genic regions. The main blood meal source was from rats, but the bugs were able to feed on a wide variety of hosts, and human blood meals were identified. Trypanosoma cruzi was the only flagellate species identified in the blood meals. All populations belong to the T. cruzi I lineage, a result that is consistent with the previously assumed predominance of this lineage in Mexico. This combination of blood meal and T. cruzi lineage identification provides a powerful tool for understanding T. cruzi transmission cycles.
Unite de Recherche 008 Pathogénie et Epidémiologie des Trypanosomatidés, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier, France.
Marie-France
MF
Bosseno
Luis Santos
LS
García
Françoise
F
Baunaure
Ezequiel Magallón
EM
Gastelúm
Margarita Soto
MS
Gutierrez
Felipe Lozano
FL
Kasten
Eric
E
Dumonteil
Simone Frédérique
SF
Brenière
D000818:Animals; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D014224:Triatoma / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000145:classification*