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Genetic characterization of residual Triatoma infestans populations from Brazil by microsatellite

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Abstract

In spite of long-term efforts to eliminate Triatoma infestans (Klug 1834) from Brazil, residual foci still persist in the states of Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul. Data on the genetic variability and structuring of these populations are however lacking. Using nine microsatellite loci, we characterized one residual T. infestans population from Bahia and four from Rio Grande do Sul, and compared them with bugs originally from an older focus in São Paulo; 224 bugs were genotyped. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 5 to 11. Observed and expected heterozygosities per locus ranged, respectively, from 0 to 0.786 and from 0 to 0.764. Significant departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, mainly due to heterozygote deficits, were detected in all loci and in most populations. Global indices estimated by AMOVA were: Fis was 0.37; Fst was 0.28; and Fit was 0.55; overall indices with p = 0.00 indicated substantial differentiation. Inter-population Fst ranged from 0.118 to 0.562, suggesting strong genetic structuring and little to no gene flow among populations. Intra-population Fis ranged from 0.301 to 0.307. Inbreeding was apparent in all populations except that from Bahia—which might be either linked by gene flow to nearby unsampled populations or part of a relatively large local population. The overall pattern of strong genetic structuring among pyrethroid-susceptible residual T. infestans populations suggests that their persistence is probably due to operational control failures. Detection and elimination of such residual foci is technically feasible and must become a public health priority in Brazil.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), the Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou–Fiocruz Minas Gerais (CPqRR), the Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde (SVS), Ministério da Saúde (MS) do Brasil, and the World Health Organization (WHO). We thank the technicians of the DNA sequencing platform at CPqRR for genotyping and João Victor Leite Dias for help with the map in Fig. 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo Triatomíneos, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Avenida Augusto de Lima 1715, Barro Preto, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 30.190-002, Brazil

    Carlota Josefovicz Belisário, Grasielle Caldas D’Avila Pessoa, Eduardo Melos Silva, Aline Cristine Luiz Rosa, Rafaela Elias Ferreira, João Carlos Pinto Dias & Liléia Diotaiuti

  2. Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública do Rio Grande do Sul, Instituto de Pesquisas Biológicas, Secretaria de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul, Avenida Ipiranga 5400, Jardim Botânico, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul, 90610-000, Brazil

    Cleonara Bedin, Tania Wilhelms & Fernanda de Mello

  3. Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública da Bahia, Diretoria de Vigilância Epidemiológica, Secretaria de Saúde da Bahia, Rua Waldemar Falcão 123, Candeal, Salvador, Bahia, 40.296-710, Brazil

    Helder Silveira Coutinho, Eduardo Lins Oyama Fonseca & Roberto Fonseca dos Santos

  4. Laboratório de Parasitoses por Flagelados, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias do Estado de São Paulo, Rua Paula Souza 166, Luz, São Paulo, São Paulo, 01027-000, Brazil

    Vera Lucia Cortiço Corrêa Rodrigues

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  1. Carlota Josefovicz Belisário
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  2. Grasielle Caldas D’Avila Pessoa
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Carlota Josefovicz Belisário and Grasielle Caldas D’Avila Pessoa have equal contribution.

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Belisário, C.J., Pessoa, G.C.D., Silva, E.M. et al. Genetic characterization of residual Triatoma infestans populations from Brazil by microsatellite. Genetica 145, 105–114 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-017-9949-y

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