Genetic Evidence of an Isolation Barrier between Flea Subspecies of Citellophilus tesquorum (Wagner, 1898) (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae).

ABSTRACT: This study investigated the relationship between two subspecies of the Citellophilus tesquorum flea, C. t. altaicus and C. t. sungaris, which are vectors of the bacterium Yersinia pestis that causes human plague across the vast territories of the Palearctic. Adult fleas were collected from 16 localities and 11 populations in 2019 and 2020. Specimens were morphologically verified for subspecies status and analysed for mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA, nuclear ribosomal cluster internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and ITS2, and Wolbachia-infection status. Our results demonstrated a genetic difference between C. t. altaicus and C. t. sungaris. According to mitochondrial data, the genetic distance between clad

SUBMITTER: Ilinsky Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8879408 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature