| Grant number: | 17/21359-8 |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| Start date: | November 01, 2018 |
| End date: | June 30, 2020 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Entomology and Malacology of Parasites and Vectors |
| Principal Investigator: | Carlos Eduardo de Almeida |
| Grantee: | Maurício Lilioso de Lucena Filho |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil |
| Associated research grant: | 16/08176-9 - An integrative approach to morphological and molecular diversity of Triatoma brasiliensis, the main Chagas Disease vector in the Brazilian semiarid: elucidating links along the epidemiological chain, AP.JP |
Abstract In the semi-arid zones of Brazil, Triatoma brasiliensis is the most important vector of Chagas' disease. This triatomine is involved in a complex eco-epidemiological net because it occupies different environments, such as wild, peri-domiciliary and domiciliary. Before the advent of new generation sequencing, the molecular techniques available to access the ecological associations of triatomines had limitations for recognizing the diversity of the organisms associated to the vector. Therefore, this project aims to apply an integrative molecular approach via metabarcoding to (i) characterize the food sources of T. brasiliensis; (ii) recognize the intestinal bacterial microbiota of this vector and (iii) the diversity of Trypanosoma cruzi carried by T. brasiliensis. The DNA extracted from the digestive tract of insect populations from the three environments where the species can be found in the state of Rio Grande do Norte will be used. For the hosts recognition and the bacterial community of the intestinal microbiota the 16S rRNA gene sequences present in the gut of the insects with specific primers for each group will be analyzed. To recognize the diversity of T. cruzi, a multiplex PCR with three primers for the region of the mini-exon of this parasite will be performed. The protocol using metabarcoding exhibits greater sensitivity compared to conventional molecular approaches to detect, for example, multiple blood feedings in insects as well as multiclonal T. cruzi infections. The integrated analysis of the results may allow the evaluation of ecological interactions that combine to modulate the parasite transmission. (AU) | |
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