Sequence-characterized amplified regions that differentiate New World screwworms from other potential wound-inhabiting flies.
New World screwworms, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel, 1858), were once devastating pests of warm-blooded animals in the United States before they were successfully eradicated using the sterile insect technique. Guarding against the introduction of screwworms to North America or any other screwworm-free area relies on rapid, reliable identification of suspected cases. In the current study, the DNA from excised markers generated by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction was used as the basis to generate 2 species-specific sequence-characterized amplified region molecular markers. Resulting primer pairs, named CR92A1 and J1A2 (each with forward and reverse components), produced amplicons of 852 and 848 base pairs, respectively. The 2 primer pairs successfully discriminated between C. hominivorax, Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius, 1775), 8 other species of blowflies, 3 noncalliphorid dipterans, and 1 nondipteran outlier. These primers may become important tools for veterinary laboratories and the screwworm eradication and exclusion program for rapid identification or verification of suspicious larval samples in presumed outbreaks.
Genetics Laboratory, Department of Entomology (Christen, Heng-Moss, Foster), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture (Lee), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEThe U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, Screwworm Research Unit, Kerrville, TX (Skoda).
Joan A
JA
Christen
Genetics Laboratory, Department of Entomology (Christen, Heng-Moss, Foster), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture (Lee), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEThe U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, Screwworm Research Unit, Kerrville, TX (Skoda) steve.skoda@ars.usda.gov.
Steven R
SR
Skoda
Genetics Laboratory, Department of Entomology (Christen, Heng-Moss, Foster), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture (Lee), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEThe U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, Screwworm Research Unit, Kerrville, TX (Skoda).
Tiffany M
TM
Heng-Moss
Genetics Laboratory, Department of Entomology (Christen, Heng-Moss, Foster), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture (Lee), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEThe U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, Screwworm Research Unit, Kerrville, TX (Skoda).
Donald J
DJ
Lee
Genetics Laboratory, Department of Entomology (Christen, Heng-Moss, Foster), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture (Lee), University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NEThe U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, Screwworm Research Unit, Kerrville, TX (Skoda).
John E
JE
Foster
D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D049750:Genome, Insect; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000662:veterinary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D013045:Species Specificity
Cochliomyia hominivorax; molecular markers; randomly amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction; sterile insect technique