title: Identification through DNA barcoding of Tabanidae (Diptera) vectors of surra disease in India.
abstract: Horse flies and deer flies are common names applied to members of the family Tabanidae (Diptera). Tabanid flies are pestiferous and of veterinary and medical importance, with about 244 species in India. They are major vectors of Trypanosoma evansi that causes trypanosomiasis (surra disease). Lack of stable morphological characters, and scarcity of taxonomic expertise, is major impediments for accurate species identification of these important pest and disease vectors. Molecular data, especially DNA barcode data, has been widely used in the identification of Diptera of economic importance. We evaluated the utility of DNA barcode data to discriminate the vectors of surra disease (trypanosomiasis) from India. We used barcode gap and reciprocal monophyly (neighbor-joining and Bayesian tree) criteria to analyze barcode data. A total of 46 specimens belonging to 7 species under four genera in two subfamilies were used for this study. DNA barcode data was not available previously for these species. Analysis revealed that all morphologically identifiable species can be discriminated using DNA barcoding data. Further, our study clearly demonstrated the presence of cryptic species in Chrysops dispar. Moreover, we revealed that closely related species without stable taxonomic distinguishing characters in the "Tabanus striatus species complex" can be discriminated using DNA barcode data.
authors.affiliation: Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Dhriti
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Electronic address: vikaszsi77@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vikas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Aniruddha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maity
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Biswatosh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Kaomud
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tyagi
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Devkant
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Singha
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Shantanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kundu
authors.affiliation: Centre for DNA Taxonomy, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Boni Amin
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Laskar
authors.affiliation: Diptera Section, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Atanu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naskar
authors.affiliation: Cytotaxonomy Research Laboratory, Molecular Systematics Division, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Shibananda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rath
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D004175:Diptera / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D014352:Trypanosomiasis / Q000635:transmission*
keywords: DNA barcoding; Discrimination; Tabanid; Trypanosomiasis; Vectors