A new whole mitochondrial genome qPCR (WMG-qPCR) with SYBR Green®to identify phlebotomine sand fly blood meals.
Phlebotomine sand flies are blood-feeding insects of marked medical and veterinary significance. Investigations on the biology of these insects hold great importance for both ecological and epidemiological purposes. The present work describes a new approach for real-time PCR (qPCR) with SYBR Green®, named WMG-qPCR, to identify phlebotomine blood meals. The novelty of the assay was to design primers based on the Whole Mitochondrial Genome (WMG) of the potential hosts (human, dog, cat, brown rat and chicken) aiming to amplify through qPCR the regions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) which are less conserved among all species. Initially, the best method for mtDNA extraction to be applied in WMG-qPCR was determined. Afterwards, amplification specificities were accessed by cross-reaction assays with mtDNA samples from all animal species, besides phlebotomine DNA. Finally, the selected primers were also tested for their limit of DNA detection through standard curves constructed by serial dilution of blood DNA obtained for each target animal species. The WMG-qPCR was able to detect as low as 10pL of blood, equivalent to 26, 84, 130, and 320fg DNA of cat, human, dog and rat, respectively. The assay was also capable to amplify as low as 5pL of chicken blood (5pg DNA). In conclusion, WMG-qPCR seems to be a promising tool to identify phlebotomine blood meals, with high species-specificity and sensitivity. Furthermore, as no supplementary techniques are required, this new approach presents minimized costs and simplified technical-training requirements for execution.
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil.
Ana Caroline Moura
ACM
Rodrigues
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil.
Rafaela Damasceno
RD
Magalhães
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil.
Kalil Andrade Mubarac
KAM
Romcy
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil.
Jeferson Lucas Sousa
JLS
Freitas
Laboratório de Parasitologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Rua Alexandre Baraúna, 949, Campus Porangabuçu, Fortaleza, CE, 60430-160, Brazil.
Ana Carolina Fonseca Lindoso
ACFL
Melo
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil.
Fernanda Cristina Macedo
FCM
Rodon
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil.
Claudia Maria Leal
CML
Bevilaqua
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Av. Doutor Silas Munguba, 1700, Fortaleza, CE, 60714-903, Brazil; Faculdade Metropolitana da Grande Fortaleza, Av. Conselheiro Estelita, 500, Fortaleza, CE, 60010-260, Brazil. Electronic address: lucianamelo.uece@gmail.com.
Luciana Magalhães
LM
Melo
D000818:Animals; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D001769:Blood; D003959:Diamines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011576:Psychodidae / Q000502:physiology*; D011804:Quinolines; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity
D052160:Benzothiazoles; D003959:Diamines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011804:Quinolines; C098022:SYBR Green I
Blood feeding; Lutzomyia; Real-time PCR; Sandfly; mtDNA