Development of a next generation DNA sequencing-based multi detection assay for detecting and identifying Leishmania parasites, blood sources, plant meals and intestinal microbiome in phlebotomine sand flies

Ibrahim Abbasi*, Abdelmajeed Nasereddin, Alon Warburg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by Leishmania parasites transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae). Human infections with different Leishmania species cause characteristic clinical manifestations; cutaneous or visceral leishmaniasis. Here we describe the development and application of a Miseq Next GenerationSequencing (NGS)-based Multi Detection Assay (MDA) designed to characterize metagenomics parameters pertinent to the sand fly vectors which may affect their vectorial capacity for Leishmania. For this purpose, we developed a MDA by which, DNA fragments were amplified through polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and then sequenced by MiSeq/NGS. PCR amplification was achieved using some published and some new primers designed specifically for identifying Leishmania spp. (ITS1), sand fly spp. (cytochrome oxidase I), vertebrate blood (Cytochrome b), plant DNA ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit gene (rbcL), and prokaryotic micobiome (16 s rRNA). This MDA/NGS analysis was performed on two species of wild-caught sand flies that transmit different Leishmania spp. in two ecologically distinct, but geographically neighboring locations. The results were analyzed to identify, quantitate and correlate the measured parameters in order to assess their putative importance in the transmission dynamics of leishmaniasis.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105101
JournalActa Tropica
Volume199
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 997/19 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Blood-meals
  • Cutaneous leishmaniasis
  • Leishmania
  • Microbiome
  • Next generation sequencing (NGS)
  • Phlebotomus
  • Plant meals

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