We report 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods for distinguishing morphologically similar gregarine species based on amplification of variable regions of the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA. The gregarines we investigated were Ascogregarina barretti (Vavra), A. culicis (Ross), and A. taiwanensis (Lien and Levine), parasites of the mosquitoes Ochlerotatus triseriatus (Say), Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus), and Ae. albopictus (Skuse), respectively. These 3 important vector mosquitoes often utilize the same container habitats, where larval development and infection by the parasite occurs, leaving ample opportunity for cross-species gregarine infection. Because previous studies have shown that the parasites A. culicis and A. taiwanensis variably affect fitness in both normal and abnormal mosquito hosts, distinguishing parasite infection and species is important. The task is complicated by the fact that these 2 parasite species are virtually identical in morphology, whereas A. barretti is morphologically distinct. Of the 2 PCR-based assays reported here, the first provides a rapid, sensitive, and straightforward means of general ascogregarine detection based on a single PCR amplification. The second method provides a means of differentiation between A. culicis and A. taiwanensis based on a species-specific PCR assay. Together, these assays allow whole mosquitoes to be tested for the presence of Ascogregarina species as well as identification of both A. culicis and A. taiwanensis singly or in dual infections.
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1 December 2005
INVERTEBRATE-PARASITE RELATIONSHIPS|
December 01 2005
DIFFERENTIAL IDENTIFICATION OF ASCOGREGARINA SPECIES (APICOMPLEXA: LECUDINIDAE) IN AEDES AEGYPTI AND AEDES ALBOPICTUS (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION
Maria E. Morales;
Maria E. Morales
Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112. [email protected]
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Clara B. Ocampo;
Clara B. Ocampo
Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112. [email protected]
* Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, Cali, Colombia
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Horacio Cadena;
Horacio Cadena
Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112. [email protected]
* Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, Cali, Colombia
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Claudia S. Copeland;
Claudia S. Copeland
Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112. [email protected]
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Michael Termini;
Michael Termini
Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112. [email protected]
† Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112
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Dawn M. Wesson
Dawn M. Wesson
Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112. [email protected]
† Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112
‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed
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J Parasitol (2005) 91 (6): 1352–1356.
Citation
Maria E. Morales, Clara B. Ocampo, Horacio Cadena, Claudia S. Copeland, Michael Termini, Dawn M. Wesson; DIFFERENTIAL IDENTIFICATION OF ASCOGREGARINA SPECIES (APICOMPLEXA: LECUDINIDAE) IN AEDES AEGYPTI AND AEDES ALBOPICTUS (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE) BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION. J Parasitol 1 December 2005; 91 (6): 1352–1356. doi: https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-442R.1
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