IHU Méditerranée Infection - Microbes, Evolution, Phylogeny and Infection (MEФI), Marseille, France.
UMR Aix-Marseille University, IRD, APHM -19-21, Bd Jean Moulin, 13385, Marseille Cedex 05, France.
Parasit Vectors. 2020 Oct 1;13(1):500. doi: 10.1186/s13071-020-04375-w.
Species of the Tabanidae are potent vectors of human and animal diseases, but they have not been thoroughly investigated to date. In Senegal (West Africa), little information is available on these dipterans. Our objective in this study was to investigate Senegalese tabanids and their diversity by using molecular and proteomics approaches, as well as their associated pathogens.
A total of 171 female tabanids were collected, including 143 from Casamance and 28 from Niokolo-Koba. The samples were identified morphologically by PCR sequencing and by MALDI-TOF MS, and PCR analysis was employed for pathogen detection and blood-meal characterization.
The morphological identification revealed four species concordantly with the molecular identification: Atylotus fuscipes (79.5%), Tabanus guineensis (16.4%), Chrysops distinctipennis (3.5%) and Tabanus taeniola (0.6%) (not identified by PCR). The molecular investigation of pathogens revealed the presence of Trypanosoma theileri (6.6%), Leishmania donovani (6.6%), Setaria digitata (1.5%), Rickettsia spp. (5.1%) and Anaplasmataceae bacteria (0.7%) in A. fuscipes. Tabanus guineensis was positive for L. donovani (35.7%), S. digitata (3.6%) and Anaplasmataceae (17.8%). Leishmania donovani has been detected in 50% of C. distinctipennis specimens and the only T. taeniola specimen. No Piroplasmida, Mansonella spp. or Coxeilla burnetii DNA was detected. In addition to humans (96.43%), Chlorocebus sabeus, a non-human primate, has been identified as a host of (3.57%) analysed tabanids. MALDI-TOF MS enabled us to correctly identify all tabanid species that had good quality spectra and to create a database for future identification.
Tabanids in Senegal could be vectors of several pathogens threatening animal and public health. To fully characterize these dipterans, it is therefore necessary that researchers in entomology and infectiology employ molecular characterization and mass spectrometric techniques such as MALDI-TOF MS to analyse these dipterans in Senegal and West Africa.
虻科的物种是人类和动物疾病的有效传播媒介，但迄今为止尚未对其进行彻底调查。在塞内加尔（西非），有关这些双翅目昆虫的信息很少。我们的目标是通过分子和蛋白质组学方法以及相关病原体来研究塞内加尔虻科及其多样性。
共采集了 171 只雌性虻，其中 143 只来自卡萨芒斯，28 只来自尼奥科洛-科巴。通过 PCR 测序和 MALDI-TOF MS 对样本进行形态学鉴定，并进行 PCR 分析以检测病原体和血液餐特征。
形态学鉴定与分子鉴定一致，发现了四种物种：Atylotus fuscipes（79.5%）、Tabanus guineensis（16.4%）、Chrysops distinctipennis（3.5%）和 Tabanus taeniola（0.6%）（PCR 未鉴定）。对病原体的分子调查显示，A. fuscipes 中存在嗜热锥虫（6.6%）、利什曼原虫（6.6%）、Setaria digitata（1.5%）、Rickttsia spp.（5.1%）和无形体细菌（0.7%）。Tabanus guineensis 对 L. donovani（35.7%）、S. digitata（3.6%）和无形体（17.8%）呈阳性。在 50%的 C. distinctipennis 标本和唯一的 T. taeniola 标本中检测到利什曼原虫。未检测到 Piroplasmida、Mansonella spp.或 Coxeilla burnetii DNA。除人类（96.43%）外，非人灵长类动物 Chlorocebus sabeus 也被鉴定为分析虻的宿主（3.57%）。MALDI-TOF MS 使我们能够正确识别所有具有良好质量谱的虻科物种，并为未来的鉴定创建一个数据库。
塞内加尔的虻科可能是几种威胁动物和公共卫生的病原体的传播媒介。因此，昆虫学和传染病学研究人员有必要利用分子特征和 MALDI-TOF MS 等质谱技术来分析塞内加尔和西非的这些双翅目昆虫，以充分描述这些双翅目昆虫。
