Culex bidens is reported for the first time in Colombia. It was morphologically and molecularly compared with Cx. declarator. They can be discriminated by the male genitalia and not by nuclear or ...mitochondrial markers.
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•Culex (Culex) bidens Dyar & Knab is reported here for the first time in Colombia.•Culex bidens and Culex declarator differ by a single male genitalic trait.•The species cannot be distinguished by mitochondrial nor nuclear markers.
Arbovirus transmission cycles must be studied locally since both vectors and hosts vary in different regions. Colombia has a highly diverse mosquito fauna. Culex (Culex) bidens is reported here for the first time in Colombia. Because Cx. bidens Dyar and Knab and Cx. declarator Dyar and Knab share a close taxonomic history and because it is difficult to differentiate between them, a morphological and molecular comparison was performed. The male genitalia of three specimens of Cx. bidens from Colombia were mounted on microscope slides and morphologically compared with the male genitalia of Cx. declarator also from Colombia. In Cx. bidens, the individual teeth of the lateral plate are long, straight, laterally directed and sharply pointed; in Cx. declarator these teeth are robust, curved, with convex margins and bluntly rounded. Moreover, DNA was extracted from the same specimens and a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene was amplified and sequenced. Neither Cx. bidens nor Cx. declarator were clustered in the Neighbour-joining topology, with K2P interspecific divergence between 0.15–1.45%. The circulation of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in Colombia was reported since 1957 and Cx. bidens was suspected to be the vector of this virus during an epizootic in Argentina in 1988. Hybridization between species of the subgenus Culex has been demonstrated, hence the degree of reproductive isolation between Cx. bidens and Cx. declarator should be investigated, as well as their taxonomic status, because they only can be discriminated by a single male genitalic feature and not by nuclear or mitochondrial markers.
Secondary symbionts of insects include a range of bacteria and fungi that perform various functional roles on their hosts, such as fitness, tolerance to heat stress, susceptibility to insecticides ...and effects on reproduction. These endosymbionts could have the potential to shape microbial communites and high potential to develop strategies for mosquito-borne disease control.
The relative frequency and molecular phylogeny of Wolbachia, Microsporidia and Cardinium were determined of phlebotomine sand flies and mosquitoes in two regions from Colombia. Illumina Miseq using the 16S rRNA gene as a biomarker was conducted to examine the microbiota. Different percentages of natural infection by Wolbachia, Cardinium, and Microsporidia in phlebotomines and mosquitoes were detected. Phylogenetic analysis of Wolbachia shows putative new strains of Lutzomyia gomezi (wLgom), Brumptomyia hamata (wBrham), and a putative new group associated with Culex nigripalpus (Cnig) from the Andean region, located in Supergroup A and Supergroup B, respectively. The sequences of Microsporidia were obtained of Pi. pia and Cx. nigripalpus, which are located on phylogeny in the IV clade (terrestrial origin). The Cardinium of Tr. triramula and Ps. shannoni were located in group C next to Culicoides sequences while Cardinium of Mi. cayennensis formed two putative new subgroups of Cardinium in group A. In total were obtained 550 bacterial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) and 189 taxa to the genus level. The microbiota profiles of Sand flies and mosquitoes showed mainly at the phylum level to Proteobacteria (67.6%), Firmicutes (17.9%) and Actinobacteria (7.4%). High percentages of relative abundance for Wolbachia (30%-83%) in Lu. gomezi, Ev. dubitans, Mi. micropyga, Br. hamata, and Cx. nigripalpus were found. ASVs assigned as Microsporidia were found in greater abundance in Pi. pia (23%) and Cx. nigripalpus (11%). An important finding is the detection of Rickettsia in Pi. pia (58,8%) and Bartonella sp. in Cx. nigripalpus.
We found that Wolbachia infection significantly decreased the alpha diversity and negatively impacts the number of taxa on sand flies and Culex nigripalpus. The Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) is consistent, which showed statistically significant differences (PERMANOVA, F = 2.4744; R2 = 0.18363; p-value = 0.007) between the microbiota of sand flies and mosquitoes depending on its origin, host and possibly for the abundance of some endosymbionts (Wolbachia, Rickettsia).
The sand fly Lutzomyia (L.) longipalpis has been implicated as the primary vector of Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis VL. In addition, it has been associated with ...atypical cutaneous leishmaniasis transmission in the Neotropic and Central America, respectively. The existence of a L. longipalpis complex species has been suggested with important implications for leishmaniasis epidemiology; however, the delimitation of species conforming it remains a topic of controversy. The DNA Barcoding Initiative based on cox1 sequence variation was used to identify the MOTUs in L. longipalpis including previously described L. pseudolongipalpis. The genetic variation was analyzed based on tree and distance methods. Fifty-five haplotypes were obtained from 103 sequences which were assigned to MOTUs, with a clear separation and a high correspondence of individuals to the groups. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analysis showed eight MOTUs (100% bootstrap) with high genetic divergence (12.6%). Data obtained in the present study suggest that L. longipalpis complex consists of at least 8 lineages that may represent species. It would be desirable perform additional morphological and molecular analysis of L. longipalpis from Colosó (Caribbean ecoregion) considering that specimens from that area were grouped with L. pseudolongipalpis one of the complex species previously described from Venezuela, which has not been registered in Colombia.
Aedes albopictus
is considered a potential vector of arboviruses in Colombia. Females and males naturally infected with dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses have already been found in this country. ...We document the first record of
Ae. albopictus
in the Cordoba department, in North of Colombia. The finding was carried out during
Ae. aegypti
collection activities in the Ayapel, Montelibano, Planeta Rica, Pueblo Nuevo and Puerto Libertador municipalities. The entomological material was collected in water containers such as cement water tanks, tanks, bottles, tires, abandoned toilets, and plastic lids with natural water located in the intradomicile, peridomicile, and extra-domicile spaces of the homes. We collected 658
Ae. albopictus
samples in the larva and pupa stages, and once these reached adulthood, we determined that 389 were female and 269 were male. This is the first record of the presence of
Ae. albopictus
in the Cordoba department.
Saint Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) is a member of the Japanese-encephalitis virus serocomplex of the genus Flavivirus. SLEV is broadly distributed in the Americas and the Caribbean Islands, where ...it is usually transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Culex and primarily to birds and mammalian-hosts. Humans are occasionally infected by the virus and are dead-end hosts. SLEV causes encephalitis in temperate regions, while in tropical regions of the Americas, several human cases and a wide biological diversity of SLEV-strains have been reported. The phylogenetic analysis of the envelope (E) protein genes indicated eight-genotypes of SLEV with geographic overlap. The present paper describes the genotyping of two SLEV viruses detected in mosquito-pools collected in northern Colombia (department of Cordoba). We used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to amplify a fragment of the E-gene to confirm the virus identity and complete E-gene sequencing for phylogenetic analysis and genotyping of the two-SLEV viruses found circulating in Córdoba. This is the first report of SLEV genotype IV in Colombia (Córdoba) in mosquitoes from a region of human inhabitation, implicating the risk of human disease due to SLEV infection. Physicians should consider SLEV as a possible aetiology for undiagnosed febrile and neurologic syndromes among their patients who report exposure to mosquito-bites.
In this study, we aimed to identify DENV-2 subtypes in Aedes aegypti pools collected between 2011 and 2017 in a rural area of Northern Cordoba, Colombia ("La Balsa").
RT-PCR was performed to analyze ...the capsid/pre-membrane region (C-PrM). Sequencing and phylogenetic bayesian inference using reference DENV-2 sequences were performed.
Twelve pools that tested positive for DENV-2 were characterized based on the C-PrM region and grouped under the Asian/American clade.
This study is the first to report the DENV-2 Asian-American subtype in a rural area of Cordoba region, which is associated with severe dengue and local epidemics.
In the department of Córdoba, 21 widely distributed Anopheles species have been described, of which Anopheles triannulatus, Anopheles nuneztovari, Anopheles albimanus, and Anopheles darlingi are the ...most abundant species, and the last three play a vectorial role in Malaria transmission in Colombia. A correct taxonomic identification of malaria insect vectors is of vital importance for the development of effective vector control strategies. However, the identification of individuals from the Anopheles genus presents difficulties due to the loss of relevant morphological characters during the transport and preservation of the collected specimens. In addition to the interspecific variations, and the intraspecific similarities of the species belonging to the subgenus Nyssorhynchus, since itpresents species complexes and cryptic species that difficults identification based only in morphological characteristics. The objective of this study was to characterize the barcode fragment of the COI gene and its genetic diversity for the identification of An. (Nys) nuneztovari and An. (Nys) albimanus in areas of high malaria transmission from the department of Córdoba. 67 individuals belonging to the species An. nuneztovari cytotype C and 22 An. albimanus were identified, and additionally, 9 haplotypes were obtained for An. nuneztovari C and 14 for An. albimanus distributed in the study areas. The values obtained in the FST and Nm estimators indicate a low or null genetic differentiation and a high gene flow between most of the studied populations because they share the most frequent haplotypes of these two species. The maximum likelihood trees for these species showed that the specimens from Córdoba belong to the same mitochondrial lineage as those previously reported from Antioquia, Choco, and Norte de Santander.
Arboviruses belonging to the genera Flavivirus and Alphavirus were detected in mosquitoes in a rural area of San Bernardo del Viento (Córdoba, Colombia). A total of 22,180 mosquitoes were collected, ...sorted into 2,102 pools, and tested by generic/nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, dengue virus, West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, yellow fever virus, and Culex flavivirus were detected and identified by sequencing. The detection of arboviral pathogens in this zone represents possible circulation and indicates a human health risk, demonstrating the importance of virological surveillance activities.
The recognition of communities of arthropods with medical importance in natural systems constitutes an important step in the prediction of possible epidemic events and/or emergence of infectious ...diseases in the human population. This is due to anthropogenic impact in natural areas and landscape modification, which changes the dynamics of pathogenic agents, reservoirs, and vector insects. In this study, an inventory was compiled of species of the genus Lutzomyia present in sub-Andean forest from the confluence of the Pamplonita River basin.
CDC-light and Shannon traps were used for collecting adult phlebotomine sandflies during the month of October 2013 in a sub-Andean forest from river basin Pamplonita. All specimens were identified using morphological keys. The epidemiological relevance of each species was reported using a literature review about natural infection or vector incrimination with Leishmania species or other pathogens microorganism.
A total of 2755 specimens belonging to eight species of the genus Lutzomyia were collected. Out of the eight species, seven belonged to the group verrucarum (Lutzomyia sp--townsendi series, L. ovallesi, L. spinicrassa, L. serrana, L. townsendi, L. nuneztovari and L. pia), while one belonged to the subgenus Helcocyrtomyia (L. hartmanni). A new registry of L. townsendi was observed for the Norte de Santander department.
The appreciable diversity of the verrucarum group observed in this area suggest further investigation on the biogeography and evolution of this group, and epidemiological risk for human populations around this area, as there are reports of Leishmania natural infection and favourable conditions for domestication of phlebotomines in rural towns.
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