| Abstrakt: |
Present work aimed to identify blood feeding sources and attempt to detect LeishmaniaDNA in Nyssomyia antunesi, suspected vector of Leishmaniasp., from a park in the urban center of Belém, the capital of Pará State, in the Brazilian Amazon. Entire bodies and gut contents of Ny. antunesiengorged females, previously captured in the urban park with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps and aspiration on tree bases, were subjected to Leishmaniaand vertebrate DNA detection through amplification of the Leishmaniamini-exon and vertebrate cytochrome b (cyt b) gene regions, respectively. The quality of DNA extraction from entire bodies was ensured through amplification of the dipteran cyt b region. The vertebrate cyt b amplicons were sequenced and compared with those available on GenBank. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree was constructed to assess the clustering patterns of these sequences. LeishmaniaDNA was not detected. The sequences of 13 vertebrate cyt b amplicons were considered informative, exhibiting similarity and clustering with the following six vertebrate species: Dasyprocta leporina(1), Cuniculus paca(1), Tamandua tetradactyla(4), Choloepus didactylus(4), Pteroglossus aracari aracari(2), Homo sapiens(1). The samples of D. leporinaand C. pacawere obtained from the CDC canopy, whereas the others were by aspiration from tree bases. The present results revealed the eclectic and opportunist blood-feeding behavior of Ny. antunesi, with birds and mammals, these last ones acting as potential reservoirs for Leishmaniaspecies, distributed throughout the vertical forest strata. |
