A method for the identification of guinea pig blood meal in the Chagas disease vector, Triatoma infestans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In a SINE-based PCR assay, a primer set specific for guinea pig genome short interspersed elements DNA was used to test the utility of genomic markers for identifying the source of vertebrate blood meals of Triatoma infestans.

Methods

The investigation consisted of two assays. In Assay 1, thirty-six insects, collected from the Province of Zudáñez in Chuquisaca, Bolivia were frozen 1-40 hours after feeding, under controlled conditions, on guinea pigs. The species of the vertebrate host was confirmed from dissection of the posterior part of the abdomen of each insect followed by DNA extraction and PCR amplification. Assay 2 investigated whether the technique worked under field conditions. We analyzed the bloodmeal of 34 insects collected from households and peri-dom

SUBMITTER: Pizarro JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1783661 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature