Entomology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
Department of Zoology, Balurghat College, Balurghat, West Bengal, India.
Med Vet Entomol. 2022 Dec;36(4):503-510. doi: 10.1111/mve.12588. Epub 2022 May 22.
Knowledge gaps exist on the feeding pattern and host range of bluetongue virus vectors, Culicoides species, associated with livestock in India. Adult midges were trapped with ultraviolet light traps at 13 household farms adjacent to human biotope. Host DNA was isolated from individual females (n = 101; blood engorged-82, gravid-4 and parous-15) and subjected to PCR amplification targeting CytB and 16S rRNA gene fragments followed by sequencing of amplified DNA samples. However, DNA sequences from only 71 individuals (70.3%) comprising of 10 Culicoides species were obtained. Blood meal analysis revealed at least 10 species that fed on five mammalian hosts including humans, but surprisingly none tested positive for birds. Results revealed that Culicoides innoxius tested positive for four not previously recognized species indicating a potential role as a vector species. Likewise, Culicoides shortti and Culicoides hegneri preferred goat and cattle respectively as hosts, whereas Culicoides palpifer preferred cattle along with buffalo as hosts, which is being reported for the first time. This is the first document on DNA-based blood meal identification and feeding preference of Culicoides midges associated with livestock in India.
在印度，与牲畜有关的蓝舌病病毒载体——库蠓属昆虫的摄食模式和宿主范围方面存在知识空白。在靠近人类生境的 13 个家庭农场，利用紫外线诱虫灯诱捕成蚊。从 101 只个体雌蚊（血吸饱-82 只、孕-4 只、产过-15 只）中分离宿主 DNA，并对 CytB 和 16S rRNA 基因片段进行 PCR 扩增，然后对扩增的 DNA 样本进行测序。然而，仅获得了 71 个个体（70.3%）的 DNA 序列，包括 10 种库蠓属昆虫。血液餐分析显示，至少有 10 种昆虫以包括人类在内的 5 种哺乳动物为食，但令人惊讶的是，没有一种对鸟类呈阳性。结果表明，吸血蠓 Innoxius 对四种以前未被识别的物种呈阳性，表明其可能是一种媒介物种。同样，短须库蠓和赫格纳库蠓分别偏好山羊和牛作为宿主，而棕榈库蠓则偏好牛和水牛作为宿主，这是首次报道。这是第一份关于与印度牲畜有关的库蠓属昆虫基于 DNA 的血液餐识别和摄食偏好的文件。
