Identification of plant tissues from the gut of Phlebotomus papatasi by DNA analysis

Amy Junnila*, Gunter C. Müller, Yosef Schlein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sugar and cellulose assays can determine if an insect has fed on sugar and plant tissue but they cannot identify the species of source plant. In this study, we used DNA analysis together with traditional cellulose and sugar assays to examine the plant feeding habits of wild Phlebotomus papatasi during the dry season in the Lower Jordan Valley, Israel. About 37% of the sand flies were positive for sugar, 45% were positive for cellulose in the gut, and 41% contained amplifiable plant DNA. All of the plant DNA fragments sequenced from both males and females were identified as Suaeda asphaltica.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)14-18
Number of pages5
JournalActa Tropica
Volume117
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2011

Keywords

  • Israel
  • Leishmaniasis
  • Phlebotomus papatasi
  • RbcL
  • Suaeda asphaltica

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