Hassaballa Iman B, Sole Catherine L, Cheseto Xavier, Torto Baldwyn, Tchouassi David P
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Feb 8;15(2):e0009041. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009041. eCollection 2021 Feb.
The bioecology of phlebotomine sand flies is intimately linked to the utilization of environmental resources including plant feeding. However, plant feeding behavior of sand flies remains largely understudied for Afrotropical species. Here, using a combination of biochemical, molecular, and chemical approaches, we decipher specific plant-feeding associations in field-collected sand flies from a dry ecology endemic for leishmaniasis in Kenya. Cold-anthrone test indicative of recent plant feeding showed that fructose positivity rates were similar in both sand fly sexes and between those sampled indoors and outdoors. Analysis of derived sequences of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit gene (rbcL) from fructose-positive specimens implicated mainly Acacia plants in the family Fabaceae (73%) as those readily foraged on by both sexes of Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia. Chemical analysis by high performance liquid chromatography detected fructose as the most common sugar in sand flies and leaves of selected plant species in the Fabaceae family. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) of the headspace volatile profiles of selected Fabaceae plants identified benzyl alcohol, (Z)-linalool oxide, (E)-β-ocimene, p-cymene, p-cresol, and m-cresol, as discriminating compounds between the plant volatiles. These results indicate selective sand fly plant feeding and suggest that the discriminating volatile organic compounds could be exploited in attractive toxic sugar- and odor- bait technologies control strategies.
白蛉的生物生态学与包括吸食植物汁液在内的环境资源利用密切相关。然而，对于非洲热带地区的白蛉物种，其吸食植物汁液的行为在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。在此，我们结合生化、分子和化学方法，解读了从肯尼亚利什曼病流行的干旱生态地区野外采集的白蛉中特定的吸食植物关联。指示近期吸食植物的冷蒽酮试验表明，白蛉雌雄两性以及室内和室外采集的白蛉之间的果糖阳性率相似。对果糖阳性标本的核酮糖-1,5-二磷酸羧化酶大亚基基因（rbcL）衍生序列的分析表明，豆科植物中的金合欢属植物（73%）主要是被Phlebotomus和Sergentomyia两性白蛉轻易取食的植物。通过高效液相色谱进行的化学分析检测到果糖是白蛉以及豆科选定植物物种叶片中最常见的糖类。对选定豆科植物顶空挥发物谱的相似性分析（ANOSIM）确定了苯甲醇、（Z）-氧化芳樟醇、（E）-β-罗勒烯、对伞花烃、对甲酚和间甲酚作为植物挥发物之间的鉴别化合物。这些结果表明白蛉对植物的取食具有选择性，并表明鉴别挥发性有机化合物可用于有吸引力的有毒糖饵和气味诱饵技术控制策略。
