Vertebrate host specificity of wild-caught blackflies revealed by mitochondrial DNA in blood
Författare
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.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2004
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
152-155
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
Volym
271
Issue
S4
Fulltext
- Available as PDF - 96 kB
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Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Royal Society Publishing
Ämne
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1471-2954