Pagès N, Sarto I Monteys V
Fundació CReSA/Entomologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Spain.
J Med Entomol. 2005 Nov;42(6):1026-34. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/42.6.1026.
Culicoides obsoletus (Meigen) and Culicoides scoticus Downes & Kettle (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are sibling species of the Obsoletus group. This group comprises species of biting midges that are suspect vectors of bluetongue virus (family Reoviridae, genus Orbivirus, BTV) and African horse sickness virus (family Reoviridae, genus Orbivirus, AHSV). BTV and AHSV have been isolated several times from females of this group, although it has not been possible to determine the particular species harboring the virus, because of the inability to clearly identify the females of each species based on morphology. Both sexes of C. obsoletus and C. scoticus midges from Catalonia and the Balearics (Spain) were sequenced for the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and these sequences were analyzed to determine intra- and interspecific genetic variability. Species-specific primers for C. obsoletus and C. scoticus were designed and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assay based on the COI gene and using a hemi-nested PCR technique was developed for reliably distinguishing the females of both species. The species-specific PCR diagnostic was compared with morphological discrimination of C. obsoletus and C. scoticus females. The morphologic characters were not fully reliable.
古氏库蠓（Meigen）和苏格兰库蠓（Downes & Kettle）（双翅目：蠓科）是库蠓属奥氏组的姐妹种。该组包括一些刺吸式蠓类，它们被怀疑是蓝舌病毒（呼肠孤病毒科，环状病毒属，BTV）和非洲马瘟病毒（呼肠孤病毒科，环状病毒属，AHSV）的传播媒介。尽管由于无法根据形态特征清晰鉴定每个物种的雌虫，因而无法确定携带病毒的具体物种，但已多次从该组的雌虫中分离出BTV和AHSV。对来自加泰罗尼亚和巴利阿里群岛（西班牙）的古氏库蠓和苏格兰库蠓的雌雄个体进行了线粒体细胞色素氧化酶亚基I（COI）基因测序，并对这些序列进行分析以确定种内和种间的遗传变异性。设计了古氏库蠓和苏格兰库蠓的种特异性引物，并开发了一种基于COI基因、采用半巢式PCR技术的聚合酶链反应（PCR）诊断分析法，用于可靠地区分这两个物种的雌虫。将种特异性PCR诊断法与古氏库蠓和苏格兰库蠓雌虫的形态学鉴别方法进行了比较。形态学特征并不完全可靠。
