Identification of Avian and Hemoparasite DNA in Blood-Engorged Abdomens of Culex pipiens (Diptera; Culicidae) from a West Nile Virus Epidemic region in Suburban Chicago, Illinois.
Multiple mosquito-borne parasites cocirculate in nature and potentially interact. To understand the community of parasites cocirculating with West Nile virus (WNV), we screened the bloodmeal content of Culex pipiens L. mosquitoes for three common types of hemoparasites. Blood-fed Cx. pipiens were collected from a WNV-epidemic area in suburban Chicago, IL, from May to September 2005 through 2010. DNA was extracted from dissected abdomens and subject to PCR and direct sequencing to identify the vertebrate host. RNA was extracted from the head or thorax and screened for WNV using quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Seventy-nine engorged females with avian host origin were screened using PCR and amplicon sequencing for filarioid nematodes, Haemosporida, and trypanosomatids. Filarioid nematodes were identified in 3.8% of the blooded abdomens, Plasmodium sp. in 8.9%, Haemoproteus in 31.6%, and Trypanosoma sp. in 6.3%. The sequences from these hemoparasite lineages were highly similar to sequences from birds in prior studies in suburban Chicago. Overall, 50.6% of blood-fed Culex pipiens contained hemoparasite DNA in their abdomen, presumably from current or prior bloodmeals. Additionally, we detected hemoparasite DNA in the blooded abdomen of three of 10 Cx. pipiens infected with WNV.
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2475.
Emily
E
Boothe
Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, One University Blvd., MO 63121.
Matthew C I
MC
Medeiros
Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University, 400 Dowman Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Uriel D
UD
Kitron
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, 1102 South Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801.
Jeffrey D
JD
Brawn
Department of Pathobiology, University of Illinois, 2001 S. Lincoln, Urbana, IL 61801.
Marilyn O
MO
Ruiz
Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 2015 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706.
Tony L
TL
Goldberg
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, 2215 Biomedical Physical Sciences East Lansing, MI 48824-4320.
Edward D
ED
Walker
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2475. ghamer@tamu.edu.
Gabriel L
GL
Hamer
D000818:Animals; D010856:Columbidae / Q000469:parasitology; D003465:Culex / Q000469:parasitology*; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005370:Filarioidea / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016787:Haemosporida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007087:Illinois; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D020308:Songbirds / Q000469:parasitology; D014351:Trypanosomatina / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary
D018509:DNA, Helminth; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004247:DNA
American Robin; Culex pipiens; West Nile virus; avian malaria; hemoparasite