title: Identification of plant tissues from the gut of Phlebotomus papatasi by DNA analysis.
abstract: Sugar and cellulose assays can determine if an insect has fed on sugar and plant tissue but they cannot identify the species of source plant. In this study, we used DNA analysis together with traditional cellulose and sugar assays to examine the plant feeding habits of wild Phlebotomus papatasi during the dry season in the Lower Jordan Valley, Israel. About 37% of the sand flies were positive for sugar, 45% were positive for cellulose in the gut, and 41% contained amplifiable plant DNA. All of the plant DNA fragments sequenced from both males and females were identified as Suaeda asphaltica.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular genetics, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada, Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. amyjunnila@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Junnila
authors.forename: Gunter C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Schlein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D002482:Cellulose / Q000032:analysis; D019663:Chenopodiaceae / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000737:chemistry*; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010691:Phlebotomus; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D018744:DNA, Plant; D002482:Cellulose