Phylogenetics of the phlebotomine sand fly group Verrucarum (Diptera: Psychodidae: Lutzomyia).

ABSTRACT: Within the sand fly genus Lutzomyia, the Verrucarum species group contains several of the principal vectors of American cutaneous leishmaniasis and human bartonellosis in the Andean region of South America. The group encompasses 40 species for which the taxonomic status, phylogenetic relationships, and role of each species in disease transmission remain unresolved. Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) phylogenetic analysis of a 667-bp fragment supported the morphological classification of the Verrucarum group into series. Genetic sequences from seven species were grouped in well-supported monophyletic lineages. Four species, however, clustered in two paraphyletic lineages that indicate conspecificity--the Lutzomyia longiflocosa-Lutzomyia sauroida pair and the Lutzomyia quasitownsendi

SUBMITTER: Cohnstaedt LW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3110367 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature