Ctenocephalides felis and Ctenocephalides canis: introgressive hybridization?

Abstract

In the present work, a comparative molecular study of Ctenocephalides felis and Ctenocephalides canis isolated from dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) from different geographical regions (Spain, Iran and South Africa) was carried out. We found morphological variations in C. felis that do not correspond with molecular differences. The Internal Transcribed Spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1, ITS2) and 18S rRNA partial gene, and cytochrome c-oxidase 1 (cox1) mtDNA partial gene sequences were determined to clarify the taxonomic status of these two species, and to assess interpopulation variation and interspecific sequence differences. In addition, a comparative phylogenetic study with other species of fleas using Bayesian, Maximum Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood analysis was performed. The 18S rRNA partial gene fragment was useful neither to discriminate C. canis and C. felis nor to infer phylogenetic relationships at this level, whereas ITS1 and ITS2 assessed for specific determination in the genus Ctenocephalides. The cox1 mtDNA sequences of C. felis revealed three main haplotypes and we suggest that there has been introgression of C. canis cox1 mtDNA into C. felis by Wolbachia pipientis. Based on cox1 sequences, restriction mapping identified many endonucleases that could be used to delineate different haplotypes of C. felis and to differentiate C. felis and C. canis.

High mitochondrial sequence divergence in synanthropic flea species (Insecta: Siphonaptera) from Europe and the Mediterranean

“…This nuclear marker could not reproduce the separation of highly divergent mitochondrial lineages within Ct. felis felis . On the other hand, while it also failed to demonstrate any differences between the well-established species Ct. felis and Ct. canis (similarly to what has been reported [ 33 ]), this method proved to be suitable to distinguish between three species of the genus Chaetopsylla (Fig. 5 ).…”

The Biology and Ecology of Cat Fleas and Advancements in Their Pest Management: A Review

“…Characters on the aedeagus such as the hamulus, lobes and tubus interior permit the identification of most of the species of Ctenocephalides [ 13 ]. However, the existence of morphological variations of characters used to differentiate C. f. felis and C. canis require that host data, geographical distribution, and the prevalence of infestations also be used in their determination [ 14 , 15 ]. From a systematic perspective, four subspecies of cat fleas had existed for six decades; namely, C. felis damarensis , C. felis felis , C. felis orientis , and C. felis strongylus [ 16 ].…”

Morphological, biometrical and molecular characterization of Archaeopsylla erinacei (Bouché, 1835)

“…Thus, these nuclear markers were useful to differentiate A. erinacei from Seville and Corse. Marrugal et al (2013) reported similar values of similarity and Zurita et al (2016), who reported an inter-specific similarity ranged from 91.8 to 96% between ITS sequences of C. felis and C. canis isolated from dogs from different geographical areas. These geographical signals in fleas have previously been reported by Luchetti et al (2007), who noticed the presence of two genotypic groups (Pacific and Atlantic) based on the analysis of ITS2 sequences of Tunga penetrans from Ecuador, Brazil and different geographical areas of Africa.…”

“…According to ITS's analyses, ITS2 sequences of both subspecies were markedly shorter than ITS1 sequences. Vobis et al (2004) and Zurita et al (2015Zurita et al ( , 2016Zurita et al ( , 2018 have previously reported this fact in other species of fleas such as C. felis, Stenoponia tripectinata tripectinata, C. canis, N. barbarus, and N. fasciatus.…”

“…Previous studies showed that fleas have a high level of genetic intraspecific variation (Dittmar & Whiting, 2003;Brinkerhoff et al, 2011). Thus, several authors in the last 10 years (Kaewmongkol et al, 2011;Lawrence et al, 2014;Zhu et al, 2015;Zurita et al, 2015Zurita et al, , 2016 have used mitochondrial DNA markers such as cox1, coxII or cytb as reference molecular markers in order to investigate the phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships in fleas at family, genus and species level.…”