Detection of an UnknownTrypanosomaDNA in aPhlebotomus stantoni(Diptera: Psychodidae) Collected From Southern Thailand and Records of New Sand Flies With Reinstatement ofSergentomyia hivernusRaynal & Gaschen, 1935 (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Abstract

Although female sand flies are best known as the vectors of Leishmania parasites and viruses, several previous reports have demonstrated that these insects can also act as vectors for the trypanosomes of bats, lizards, and snakes. In this report, we created an inventory of Phlebotomine sand flies from southern Thailand. A novel trypanosome was found in a specimen of Phlebotomus stantoni, and two sand fly species newly recorded in the country, Sergentomyia khawi and Sergentomyia hivernus, were described. PCR primer pairs specific for the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and the small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) gene of trypanosomatids were used to demonstrate the presence of the parasite in the sand fly. In addition, the Cytochrome b (CytB) gene was used to identify the sand fly species. Among the 45 samples of the sand fly that were collected, seven samples were Ph. stantoni sand flies and a single sample was positive for Trypanosoma sp. through PCR analysis. This study represents the first detection of Trypanosoma sp. in a sand fly from Thailand. The ITS1 and SSU rDNA sequences indicated that this specimen is suspected to be a novel Trypanosoma species. Further studies of this suspected new Trypanosoma species, including its vertebrate hosts and pathogenic potential, are therefore necessary.

Identification of trypanosomatids and blood feeding preferences of phlebotomine sand fly species common in Sicily, Southern Italy

“…In particular, Trypanosoma platydactyli was described in S. minuta [42], and the infection by a Trypanosoma belonging to Trypanosoma theileri group with very high homology to other trypanosomes detected in European cervids was recently reported in Phlebotomus perfiliewi [43]. In the Mediterranean area, Trypanosoma nabiasi, a rabbit trypanosome, and its co-infection with L. infantum was found in P. perniciosus female sand flies caught in the context of human leishmaniosis outbreak in Madrid [44], and natural infection of sand flies by trypanosomes of lizards, amphibians, birds and rodents has been already reported mainly from the American continent and Asia [45][46][47][48]. Despite Trypanosoma spp.…”

On the true identity of Sergentomyia gemmea and description of a closely related species: Se. raynali n. sp

“…iyengari (Quate, 1962;Seccombe et al, 1993) for more than the past 50 years. Sergentomyia hivernus has been recently reinstated based first on the original tubular spermathecae and, second, by the few number of vertical teeth of the cibarium (Phumee et al, 2016).…”

“…DNA was extracted from individual sand flies, amplified targeting a cytochrome B (CytB) gene and sequenced (Phumee et al, 2016). Comparisons were made using the 18 partial CytB (JX852706, JX852707, MG770898, MG770899, MG770920, MG770915, MG770919-MG770923, MG770925, MG770929 -MG770935) available sequences labelled Se.…”

Isolation of a Trypanosome Related to Trypanosoma theileri (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatidae) from Phlebotomus perfiliewi (Diptera: Psychodidae)

“…Natural infection of sand flies by trypanosomes was already reported; for example, trypanosomes of lizards and amphibians were detected in sand flies in Brazil [ 21 , 22 ] and Ghana [ 23 ] and isolated from this insect in California [ 24 ] and Pakistan [ 25 ], incriminating phlebotomine sand flies as vectors of these protozoa. In addition, trypanosomes of birds and rodents were detected in sand flies in Peru [ 26 ] and Thailand [ 27 ], respectively, and trypanosomes of marsupials were isolated from sand flies in Brazil [ 28 ]. However, the commonly reported vectors of species belonging to the T. theileri group are tabanids and sheep or deer keds, and parasites are transmitted to vertebrate hosts via ingestion of vectors or via defecation.…”