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Vertebrate host specificity of wild-caught blackflies revealed by mitochondrial DNA in blood

Malmqvist, B ; Strasevicius, D ; Hellgren, Olof LU ; Adler, PH and Bensch, Staffan LU (2004) In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences 271(S4). p.152-155
Abstract
Blood-feeding blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) transmit pathogens, harass vertebrate hosts and may cause lethal injuries in attacked victims, but with traditional methods it has proved difficult to identify their hosts. By matching mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in blood collected from engorged blackflies with stored sequences in the GenBank database, relationships between 17 blackfly species and 25 species of vertebrate hosts were revealed. Our results demonstrate a predominance of large hosts and marked discrimination between blackflies using either avian or mammalian hosts. Such information is of vital interest in studies of disease transmission, coevolutionary relationships, population ecology and wildlife management.
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
volume
271
issue
S4
pages
152 - 155
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000221321100008
  • scopus:2342645616
ISSN
1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rsbl.2003.0120
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b5c68f91-c5bc-4505-b9dc-18e260efa504 (old id 137000)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:06:16
date last changed
2022-01-28 17:17:20
@article{b5c68f91-c5bc-4505-b9dc-18e260efa504,
  abstract     = {{Blood-feeding blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) transmit pathogens, harass vertebrate hosts and may cause lethal injuries in attacked victims, but with traditional methods it has proved difficult to identify their hosts. By matching mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences in blood collected from engorged blackflies with stored sequences in the GenBank database, relationships between 17 blackfly species and 25 species of vertebrate hosts were revealed. Our results demonstrate a predominance of large hosts and marked discrimination between blackflies using either avian or mammalian hosts. Such information is of vital interest in studies of disease transmission, coevolutionary relationships, population ecology and wildlife management.}},
  author       = {{Malmqvist, B and Strasevicius, D and Hellgren, Olof and Adler, PH and Bensch, Staffan}},
  issn         = {{1471-2954}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{S4}},
  pages        = {{152--155}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Vertebrate host specificity of wild-caught blackflies revealed by mitochondrial DNA in blood}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4568859/624624.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rsbl.2003.0120}},
  volume       = {{271}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}