Tom Anns, Yellapu Nanda Kumar, Rahi Manju, Saini Prasanta
ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre, Puducherry 605006, India.
School of Life Sciences, Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Puducherry 605014, India.
Microorganisms. 2025 Jul 9;13(7):1615. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13071615.
Phlebotomine sandflies are the primary vectors of parasites, the causative agents of leishmaniasis. In India, is the confirmed vector of . The sandfly gut microbiota plays a crucial role in development and transmission, yet it remains largely understudied. This study used a metagenomic approach targeting the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene to compare the gut bacterial communities of and prevalent in Kerala. A total of 18 distinct bacterial phyla were identified in , and 14 in , both dominated by , , and . A total of 315 genera were identified in , with a high relative abundance of (6.3%), whereas harbored 327 genera, with showing a higher relative abundance of 11%. Unique to , bacterial phyla such as Fusobacteria, Armatimonadetes, Elusimicrobia, Chlamydiae, and Crenarchaeota were identified, whereas Chlorobi was specific to Additionally, 145 species were identified in , compared to 164 species in . These findings provide a comparative baseline of gut microbial diversity between vector and non-vector sandfly species, offering a foundation for future functional investigations into vector competence.
白蛉是寄生虫的主要传播媒介，而寄生虫是利什曼病的病原体。在印度， 是 的确诊传播媒介。白蛉肠道微生物群在 发育和传播中起着关键作用，但在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。本研究采用宏基因组学方法，针对16S rRNA基因的V3 - V4区域，比较喀拉拉邦流行的 和 的肠道细菌群落。在 中总共鉴定出18个不同的细菌门，在 中鉴定出14个，两者均以 、 和 为主。在 中总共鉴定出315个属， 相对丰度较高（6.3%），而 含有327个属， 相对丰度较高，为11%。 在 中特有的细菌门，如梭杆菌门、装甲菌门、迷踪菌门、衣原体门和泉古菌门被鉴定出来，而绿弯菌门是 特有的。此外，在 中鉴定出145个物种，而在 中鉴定出164个物种。这些发现提供了传播媒介和非传播媒介白蛉物种之间肠道微生物多样性的比较基线，为未来对传播媒介能力的功能研究奠定了基础。
