Project description:BackgroundThe genus Trichopoda Berthold, 1827 is distributed in the Neotropical and Nearctic Regions and some species are very important for biological control. During the last decades, the species Trichopodapictipennis Bigot, 1876 has received much attention. It is of Neotropical origin, but it has been introduced throughout the western Palaearctic, probably through exchanges that transported its main host, the 'southern green stink bug' Nezaraviridula.New informationTrichopodapictipennis is reported for the first time from the Canary Islands. To date, this introduced species has been detected throughout the island of Tenerife and in a single locality on the island of La Gomera. This finding confirms that this species of Neotropical origin is expanding its range across the Palaearctic realm of this species of Neotropical origin. Parasitised Nezaraviridula were collected and reared under laboratory conditions to document the complete life cycle of T.pictipennis. Its potential effects on its main host, as well as on the Canary fauna, are discussed.
Project description:Hamaxiella brunnescens (Mesnil, 1967) (Diptera, Tachinidae) is a parasitic fly species and of great ecological importance in natural systems as parasitoids of herbivorous insects. The mitogenome of H. brunnescens was sequenced and analyzed here for the first time. The genome is 14,956 bp in length with high A + T content, which consists of 13 protein-coding, 22 tRNA, two rRNA genes, and a partial non-coding control region. The phylogenetic analyses support a monophyletic Tachinidae. The two subfamilies Exoristinae and Phasiinae are fully supported as monophyletic while Tachininae is inferred to be paraphyletic.
Project description:The mitochondrial genome of Subclytia rotundiventris (Fallén, 1820) belongs to the subfamily Phasiinae of Tachinidae, was obtained using a next-generation sequencing approach. This 15,574 bp mitogenome consists of 22 transfer RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 noncoding control region. Our results strongly supported the monophyly of Tachinidae. It also indicated that the monophyly of the Dexiinae, Tachininae, Phasiinae, and Exoristinae is consistently fully supported and clustered as (Dexiinae (Tachininae (Phasiinae + Exoristinae))).
Project description:Ciguatera Poisoning (CP) is a human food-borne poisoning that has been known since ancient times to be found mainly in tropical and subtropical areas, which occurs when fish or very rarely invertebrates contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs) are consumed. The genus of marine benthic dinoflagellates Gambierdiscus produces CTX precursors. The presence of Gambierdiscus species in a region is one indicator of CP risk. The Canary Islands (North Eastern Atlantic Ocean) is an area where CP cases have been reported since 2004. In the present study, samplings for Gambierdiscus cells were conducted in this area during 2016 and 2017. Gambierdiscus cells were isolated and identified as G. australes, G. excentricus, G. caribaeus, and G. belizeanus by molecular analysis. In this study, G. belizeanus is reported for the first time in the Canary Islands. Gambierdiscus isolates were cultured, and the CTX-like toxicity of forty-one strains was evaluated with the neuroblastoma cell-based assay (neuro-2a CBA). G. excentricus exhibited the highest CTX-like toxicity (9.5-2566.7 fg CTX1B equiv. cell-1) followed by G. australes (1.7-452.6.2 fg CTX1B equiv. cell-1). By contrast, the toxicity of G. belizeanus was low (5.6 fg CTX1B equiv. cell-1), and G. caribaeus did not exhibit CTX-like toxicity. In addition, for the G. belizeanus strain, the production of CTXs was evaluated with a colorimetric immunoassay and an electrochemical immunosensor resulting in G. belizeanus producing two types of CTX congeners (CTX1B and CTX3C series congeners) and can contribute to CP in the Canary Islands.
Project description:Since the beginning of the 21st century five new coronaviruses inducing respiratory diseases in humans have been reported. These emergences has promoted research on coronaviruses in wildlife. We started the first eco-epidemiological study to screen the presence of coronaviruses circulating in mice and rats of four Canary Islands. Between 2015 and 2019, we obtained fecal samples of three rodent species (150 Mus musculus, 109 Rattus rattus and 1 Rattus norvegicus) captured in urban and rural areas. Fecal samples were analyzed by nRT-PCR and the resulting sequences were compared to known diversity using Bayesian phylogenetic methods. We only found coronavirus RNA in house mice from El Hierro (10.53%), Tenerife (7.02%) and Lanzarote (5.26%) islands. All coronaviruses detected belong to the species Murine coronavirus belonging to the genus Betacoronavirus and subgenus Embecovirus, being all positive house mice captured in anthropogenic environment. The phylogenetic analysis shows that murine coronaviruses from the Canary Islands are related to European murine coronaviruses. Albeit data are still scarce in the region, the most probable origin of M. coronavirus present in the Canary Islands is continental Europe. According to temporal Bayesian phylogenetics, the differentiation between Canary and continental viruses seems to be quite recent. Moreover, murine coronaviruses from El Hierro, Tenerife and Lanzarote islands tend to segregate in different clades. This enlightens the potential role of rodents or other possibly invasive species in disseminating infectious diseases to remote places through exchanges with the continent. It is important to consider these aspects in the sanitary control of islands, for health and biodiversity preservation concerns.
Project description:New genus Neoethillagen. n., is described to include two New World nominal species formerly recognized as valid species in Winthemia Robineau-Desvoidy: Exorista ignobilis van der Wulp and Winthemia antennalis Coquillett. Winthemia antennalis is proposed as a junior synonym of Exorista ignobilissyn. n.Neoethilla ignobiliscomb. n. is removed from the Winthemiini and placed in the tribe Ethillini (Exoristinae) based on a study of the external features of adults, male terminalia, female reproductive system, and egg morphology. The small tribe Ethillini, not hitherto known from the New World, currently comprises fourteen genera worldwide. The phylogeny and systematics of the Ethillini and their relationships with related tribes are discussed and documented by descriptions and illustrations of relevant character states.
Project description:We report the first cases of human infection by Rickettsia felis in the Canary Islands. Antibodies against R. felis were found in 5 adsorbed serum samples from 44 patients with clinically suspected rickettsiosis by Western blot serology. Fleas from 1 patient's dog were positive for R. felis by polymerase chain reaction.
Project description:This data release provides COI barcodes for 366 species of parasitic flies (Diptera: Tachinidae), enabling the DNA based identification of the majority of northern European species and a large proportion of Palearctic genera, regardless of the developmental stage. The data will provide a tool for taxonomists and ecologists studying this ecologically important but challenging parasitoid family. A comparison of minimum distances between the nearest neighbors revealed the mean divergence of 5.52% that is approximately the same as observed earlier with comparable sampling in Lepidoptera, but clearly less than in Coleoptera. Full barcode-sharing was observed between 13 species pairs or triplets, equaling to 7.36% of all species. Delimitation based on Barcode Index Number (BIN) system was compared with traditional classification of species and interesting cases of possible species oversplits and cryptic diversity are discussed. Overall, DNA barcodes are effective in separating tachinid species and provide novel insight into the taxonomy of several genera.
Project description:The genus Gymnocheta Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera, Tachinidae) has until now been represented by two species in Europe, G.viridis (Fallén, 1810) and G.magna Zimin, 1958. Two species are newly recorded from Finland and Sweden, Gymnochetalucida Zimin, 1958 and G.zhelochovtsevi Zimin, 1958, both previously known only from the Russian Far East and Japan. These four European species are redescribed and illustrated, including the first description of the female of G.zhelochovtsevi. A key is provided to seven of the eight described species of Palaearctic Gymnocheta. The holotype of G.viridis was examined and found to differ from the present concept of the species, instead matching the concept of the more recently described G.magna. In the interests of nomenclatural stability, the two names are maintained in their current usage pending a request to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to replace the current holotype of G.viridis with a neotype that corresponds to the long-established concept of that species.