Triatoma maculata, the Vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, in Venezuela. Phenotypic and Genotypic Variability as Potential Indicator of Vector Displacement into the Domestic Habitat.

ABSTRACT: Triatoma maculata is a wild vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease; its incursion in the domestic habitat is scant. In order to establish the possible domestic habitat of T. maculata, we evaluated wing variability and polymorphism of genotypic markers in subpopulations of T. maculata that live in different habitats in Venezuela. As markers, we used the mtCyt b gene, previously apply to evaluate population genetic structure in triatomine species, and the β-tubulin gene region, a marker employed to study genetic variability in Leishmania subgenera. Adults of T. maculata were captured in the period 2012-2013 at domestic, peridomestic (PD), and wild areas of towns in the Venezuelan states of Anzoátegui, Bolívar, Portuguesa, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, and Sucre. The phe

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Alzate R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4179684 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature