A new whole mitochondrial genome qPCR (WMG-qPCR) with SYBR Green (R) to identify phlebotomine sand fly blood meals

作者：Moura Rodrigues Ana Caroline; Magalhaes Rafaela Damasceno; Mubarac Romcy Kalil Andrade; Sousa Freitas Jeferson Lucas; Fonseca Lindoso Melo Ana Carolina; Macedo Rodon Fernanda Cristina; Leal Bevilaqua Claudia Maria; Melo Luciana Magalhaes^*

来源：Veterinary Parasitology, 2017, 238: 17-23.

DOI：10.1016/j.vetpar.2017.03.007

• Real-time PCR
• Blood feeding
• Lutzomyia
• mtDNA
• Sandfly

Phlebotomine sand flies are blood-feeding insects of marked medical and veterinary significance. Investigations on the biology of these insects hold great importance for both ecological and epidemiological purposes. The present work describes a new approach for real-time PCR (OCR) with SYBR Green (R), named WMG-qPCR, to identify phlebotomine blood meals. The novelty of the assay was to design primers based on the Whole Mitochondrial Genome (WMG) of the potential hosts (human, dog, cat, brown rat and chicken) aiming to amplify through OCR the regions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) which are less conserved among all species. Initially, the best method for mtDNA extraction to be applied in WMG-qPCR was determined. Afterwards, amplification specificities were accessed by cross-reaction assays with mtDNA samples from all animal species, besides phlebotomine DNA. Finally, the selected primers were also tested for their limit of DNA detection through standard curves constructed by serial dilution of blood DNA obtained for each target animal species. The WMG-qPCR was able to detect as low as 10 pL of blood, equivalent to 26, 84,130, and 320 fg DNA of cat, human, dog and rat, respectively. The assay was also capable to amplify as low as 5 pL of chicken blood (5 pg DNA). In conclusion, WMG-qPCR seems to be a promising tool to identify phlebotomine blood meals, with high species-specificity and sensitivity. Furthermore, as no supplementary techniques are required, this new approach presents minimized costs and simplified technical-training requirements for execution.

• 出版日期2017-4-30