Vertebrate host specificity of wild-caught blackflies revealed by mitochondrial DNA in blood
Author
Summary, in English
Blood-feeding blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) transmit pathogens, harass vertebrate hosts and may cause lethal injuries in attacked victims, but with traditional methods it has proved difficult to identify their hosts. By matching mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in blood collected from engorged blackflies with stored sequences in the GenBank database, relationships between 17 blackfly species and 25 species of vertebrate hosts were revealed. Our results demonstrate a predominance of large hosts and marked discrimination between blackflies using either avian or mammalian hosts. Such information is of vital interest in studies of disease transmission, coevolutionary relationships, population ecology and wildlife management.
Department/s
Publishing year
2004
Language
English
Pages
152-155
Publication/Series
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
Volume
271
Issue
S4
Full text
- Available as PDF - 96 kB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Royal Society Publishing
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Research group
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1471-2954