Effect of the microbiome on the behavior of necrophagous and parasitic blow flies species

• Grant number: 24/09549-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Agreement: NSF - Dimensions of Biodiversity and BIOTA
• Principal Investigator: Patricia Jacqueline Thyssen
• Grantee: Luiza Bascope dos Reis
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/05636-4 - Dimensions US-BIOTA-São Paulo: more to the blow fly than meets the eye: understanding evolutionary and genetic origins of diverse trophic specializations, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Calliphoridae, also known as blow flies, gain importance in public and animal health considering that several species can be mechanical vectors of a wide range of pathogens since they frequent inhospitable environments; additionally, some species are parasites (Marcondes and Thyssen, 2017). It has been observed that closely related blow fly species have very different eating habits. The interest in studying the evolution of eating habits in these dipterans, in particular, is due to the appearance of obligatory parasitism on at least three independent occasions. However, the evolutionary origins of parasitism, a behavior that can cause major problems for public and animal health, including massive economic losses, are still unknown.