Distinguishing body lice from head lice by multiplex real-time PCR analysis of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Body louse or head louse? Once removed from their environment, body and head lice are indistinguishable. Neither the morphological criteria used since the mid-18th century nor the various genetic studies conducted since the advent of molecular biology tools have allowed body lice and head lice to be differentiated. In this work, using a portion of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene from the body louse, we aimed to develop a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to differentiate between body and head lice in a single reaction.

Materials and methods

A total of 142 human lice were collected from mono-infested hosts from 13 countries on five continents. We first identified the louse clade using a cytochrome b (CYTB) PCR sequence alignment. We then aligned a

SUBMITTER: Drali R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3585238 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature