Metagenomic Analysis of Taxa Associated with Lutzomyia longipalpis, Vector of Visceral Using an Unbiased High-Throughput Approach.

MCCARTHY, C.; DIAMBRA, L; RIVERA POMAR R

PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Año: 2011 vol. 5 p. 1304 - 1304

1935-2735

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with a complex ecology and epidemiology. It has three main clinical forms of which visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most severe, as it is fatal if untreated. It is caused by a protist parasite, Leishmania spp., and is transmitted to humans by phlebotomine sandflies. The best method to interrupt any vector-borne disease is to reduce man-vector contact. Vector-targeted strategies are particularly attractive because the vectorial capacity to transmit infectious diseases to humans is proportional to vector density and, in an exponential way, to vector survival. Biological control is an effective means of reducing or mitigating pests through the use of natural enemies and is more environmentally friendly than traditional insecticide treatments. Nevertheless, there is very scanty information on the biological control of sandflies and their potential control agents. In this context, a detailed knowledge of the microorganisms that are associated with these vectors would aid in the development of novel strategies for controlling them. This is the first study to survey the taxa associated with leishmaniasis vectors and, more importantly, with any infectious disease vector, using an unbiased and high-throughput approach.