Project description:Biological, molecular, and genetic interactions involved in the functional integration of Triatoma pallidipennis and its gut microbiota.
Project description:The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo 1835) Vuillemin is an effective alternative control agent against some agricultural pests and biological vectors of important diseases such as Chagas disease. In this work we studied an isolate of Beauveria bassiana from of the town of San Antonio Rayón, Puebla, Mexico and its entomopathogenic effects on Meccus pallidipennis (Stal 1872). Phylogenetic analysis using molecular comparison of the ITS and EF1α genes, showed that the resulting cladogram places the BUAP 04 strain with a relationship closer to the AFAO 9-6 strain, within the diversity of the B. bassiana sensu lato group. Although there was the possibility that BUAP 04 strain was a direct descendant of strains used in campaigns of biologic control, molecular study allowed us to recognize that it was a different fungus due to numerous inserts. A strain isolated from a T. dimiata was evaluated for pathogenicity against another triatoma (Meccus pallidipennis) species obtaining an LC50 of 4.16 × 10(6) spores/mL, confirming that the BUAP 04 strain is virulent for M. pallidipennis and could be a good prospect for formulations to control M. pallidipennis.
Project description:Chagas disease remains a serious health problem for countries where the most common mode of transmission is infection contracted from the feces of a Triatominae insect vector. In México, 32 species of Triatoma have been identified; amongst them, Triatoma (Meccus) pallidipennis is an endemic species reported to have high percentages of infection with T. cruzi Defensins, cysteine-rich cationic peptides, are a family of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs); the synthesis of these molecules is crucial for insect's immune defense. In the present study, the genes encoding defensins in T. pallidipennis were sequenced with the purpose of identifying the variability of these genes in a Mexican vector of T. cruzi We found 12 different genes encoding three mature peptides, all of which had the typical folding of a functional insect defensin. In this work two Defensins type 1 and one type 4 were identified. The pro-peptide domain was highly variable and the mature peptide was not. This is the first report focus on variability of defensins from an epidemiologically important Triatoma in Mexico.
| S-EPMC6165835 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Trimerotropis pallidipennis species complex - Raw Sequence reads