title: Towards a rapid molecular identification of the common phlebotomine sand flies in the Mediterranean region.
abstract: The present study reports two simple molecular approaches allowing a rapid identification of the most prevalent species of phlebotomine sand flies in the Mediterranean region. A PCR protocol for the amplification of ITS2 ribosomal region and a PCR-RFLP on a mitochondrial DNA fragment (cytb-nd1) were settled in order to identify and discriminate among Phlebotomus perniciosus, Phlebotomus neglectus, Phlebotomus perfiliewi, Phlebotomus papatasi and Sergentomyia minuta. The ITS2 regions showed a certain degree of interspecific variability, which led to PCR amplicons of different sizes, i.e., 450, 490, 460, 480 and 530 bp for P. perniciosus, P. neglectus, P. perfiliewi, P. papatasi, and S. minuta, respectively. Analogously, the digestion of a mitochondrial DNA amplicon with Ase I enzyme showed five different restriction profiles, which allowed the unequivocal differentiation of the sand fly species examined. These methods might represent useful tools for a molecular large scale screening of phlebotomine sand fly species caught in areas where leishmaniasis is endemic, in order to plan appropriate epidemiological surveillance programs for both Leishmania spp. and their vectors.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Zootecnia, Università degli Studi di Bari, Strada Provinciale per Casamassima km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Stefania
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Latrofa
authors.forename: Giada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Annoscia
authors.forename: Filipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dantas-Torres
authors.forename: Donato
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Traversa
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Otranto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000469:parasitology*; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D010691:Phlebotomus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer