title: DNA barcode for the identification of the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis plant feeding preferences in a tropical urban environment.
abstract: Little is known about the feeding behavior of hematophagous insects that require plant sugar to complete their life cycles. We studied plant feeding of Lutzomyia longipalpis sand flies, known vectors of Leishmania infantum/chagasi parasites, in a Brazilian city endemic with visceral leishmaniasis. The DNA barcode technique was applied to identify plant food source of wild-caught L. longipalpis using specific primers for a locus from the chloroplast genome, ribulose diphosphate carboxylase. DNA from all trees or shrubs within a 100-meter radius from the trap were collected to build a barcode reference library. While plants from the Anacardiaceae and Meliaceae families were the most abundant at the sampling site (25.4% and 12.7% of the local plant population, respectively), DNA from these plant families was found in few flies; in contrast, despite its low abundance (2.9%), DNA from the Fabaceae family was detected in 94.7% of the sand flies. The proportion of sand flies testing positive for DNA from a given plant family was not significantly associated with abundance, distance from the trap, or average crown expansion of plants from that family. The data suggest that there may indeed be a feeding preference of L. longipalpis for plants in the Fabaceae family.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Piauí, Picos, Brazil.|Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, Teresina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo H G de M
authors.initials: LHGM
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, Teresina, Brazil.|Federal Institute of Piauí, Parnaíba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mesquita
authors.affiliation: Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut, United States.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Skrip
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Biology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
authors.forename: Moisés T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: de Souza Freitas
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, Teresina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vladimir C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecul Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Oscar D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Kirstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecul Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abassi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecul Genetics, The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada, The Kuvin Centre for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warburg
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Biology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valdir de Q
authors.initials: VQ
authors.lastname: Balbino
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Piauí, Picos, Brazil.|Laboratory of Leishmaniasis, Teresina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos H N
authors.initials: CHN
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D027926:Anacardiaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic / Q000379:methods*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology*; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000502:physiology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D029582:Meliaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; C101625:RbcL protein, plastid; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase