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Parasites & Vectors Nov 2022Equine thelaziosis is a neglected vector-borne parasitic disease in modern veterinary medicine, lacking recent reports. It is transmitted by Musca autumnalis, and...
BACKGROUND
Equine thelaziosis is a neglected vector-borne parasitic disease in modern veterinary medicine, lacking recent reports. It is transmitted by Musca autumnalis, and potentially other Muscidae species, by ingesting the lachrymal secretions of its equine host. The distribution of both Thelazia lacrymalis and its intermediate hosts remains largely unknown throughout Europe, with most studies dating back 20 years. The aim of this study was to assess the presence, prevalence and distribution of T. lacrymalis in horses from Romania.
METHODS
The eyes of 273 horses, slaughtered at two abattoirs from the Northwestern and Western regions of Romania, were examined for the presence of T. lacrymalis between March and November 2021. Upon detection, the nematodes were collected and morphologically identified using the keys from literature. Following identification, one specimen from each animal was selected for molecular analysis while the rest underwent detailed morphometric measurements. Mapping and distribution, according to ecoregions, was done using the QGis 3.20 software, while sequences obtained were compared to those available in GenBank through BLAST analysis using the MEGA X software.
RESULTS
Of the 273 animals sampled, 12 (4.39%) were positive for Thelazia spp.
INFECTION
Eighty-seven nematodes were recovered, all morphologically identified as T. lacrymalis. The intensity of infestation varied between one and 33 nematodes/animal while five animals presented a bilateral infestation and seven a unilateral one. The highest prevalence was encountered in Pannonian ecoregion (12.12%) while the lowest was in the Alpine ecoregion (0%). Seventy-five intact specimens underwent detailed morphometric analysis, of the 18-20 parameters, resulting in notable differences in striation lengths compared to the data available in other reports. BLAST analysis identified a 96.46-98.60% similarity to the only other COI gene sequence available for T. lacrymalis.
CONCLUSIONS
The current study represents the first report of T. lacrymalis in horses in Romania. The low prevalence rates are probably linked to the wide use of macrocyclic lactones.
Topics: Horses; Animals; Phylogeny; Spirurida Infections; Romania; Thelazioidea; Muscidae
PubMed: 36376981
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05532-z -
The International Journal of... Jan 2002The genetic cascades regulating sex determination of the housefly, Musca domestica, and the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, appear strikingly different. The... (Review)
Review
The genetic cascades regulating sex determination of the housefly, Musca domestica, and the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, appear strikingly different. The bifunctional switch gene doublesex, however, is present at the bottom of the regulatory cascades of both species, and so is transformer-2, one of the genetic elements required for the sex-specific regulation of doublesex. The upstream regulators are different: Drosophila utilizes Sex-lethal to coordinate the control of sex determination and dosage compensation, i.e., the process that equilibrates the difference of two X chromosomes in females versus one X chromosome in males. In the housefly, Sex-lethal is not involved in sex determination, and dosage compensation, if existent at all, is not coupled with sexual differentiation. This allows for more adaptive plasticity in the housefly system. Accordingly, natural housefly populations can vary greatly in their mechanism of sex determination, and new types can be generated in the laboratory.
Topics: Animals; Dosage Compensation, Genetic; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Houseflies; Male; Models, Biological; Models, Genetic; Sex Determination Processes; Species Specificity
PubMed: 11902690
DOI: No ID Found -
Perception 1980
Topics: Animals; Houseflies; Retina; Visual Perception
PubMed: 7375322
DOI: 10.1068/p090123 -
Scientific Reports Nov 2022The hormetic effect may cause disease control measures to fail due to inadequate treatment of human disease vectors such as houseflies. Age-stage, two-sex life table is...
The hormetic effect may cause disease control measures to fail due to inadequate treatment of human disease vectors such as houseflies. Age-stage, two-sex life table is used for accurate estimation of the hermetic impacts on insects as it allows to study sub-lethal or transgenerational effects. Pyrethroids insecticides are primarily used for the management of houseflies. This study used lambda-cyhalothrin (a pyrethroid insecticide) to quantify its transgenerational impacts on houseflies. Life table parameters of a progeny of adult houseflies exposed to LC, LC and LC of lambda-cyhalothrin were computed. Statistically higher fecundity (71.31 per female) was observed in control treatment, while it was the adults exposed to LC recorded the lowest progeny. Significantly higher values for intrinsic rate of growth (r), limiting rate of growth (λ), and net reproductive rate (R) (0.16, 1.16, and 31.38 per day, respectively) were recorded for the control treatment of the study. Contrarily, lower values for λ, R and r were (0.10, 1.10, and 9.24 per day, respectively) were noted in the LC treatment. Decreased population parameters suggest that lambda-cyhalothrin can be successfully used in indoor environments to control houseflies.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Female; Houseflies; Muscidae; Insecticides; Pyrethrins; Insecticide Resistance
PubMed: 36357409
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23492-3 -
Journal of Insect Science (Online) Nov 2020Veterinary and medical entomologists who are involved in research on pest control often need to perform dose-response bioassays and analyze the results. This article is...
Veterinary and medical entomologists who are involved in research on pest control often need to perform dose-response bioassays and analyze the results. This article is meant as a beginner's guide for doing this and includes instructions for using the free program R for the analyses. The bioassays and analyses are described using previously unpublished data from bioassays on house flies, Musca domestica Linnaeus (Diptera: Muscidae), but can be used on a wide range of pest species. Flies were exposed topically to beta-cyfluthrin, a pyrethroid, or exposed to spinosad or spinetoram in sugar to encourage consumption. LD50 values for beta-cyfluthrin in a susceptible strain were similar regardless of whether mortality was assessed at 24 or 48 h, consistent with it being a relatively quick-acting insecticide. Based on LC50 values, spinetoram was about twice as toxic as spinosad in a susceptible strain, suggesting a benefit to formulating spinetoram for house fly control, although spinetoram was no more toxic than spinosad for a pyrethroid-resistant strain. Results were consistent with previous reports of spinosad exhibiting little cross-resistance. For both spinosad and spinetoram, LC50 values were not greatly different between the pyrethroid-resistant strain and the susceptible strain.
Topics: Animals; Biological Assay; Drug Combinations; Female; Houseflies; Insecticides; Macrolides; Nitriles; Pyrethrins
PubMed: 33135745
DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieaa041 -
Journal of Medical Entomology Feb 2020Avian influenza virus (AIV) H9N2 emerged in the 1990s as an economically important disease in poultry and occasionally infects humans and other mammals. The aim of this...
Avian influenza virus (AIV) H9N2 emerged in the 1990s as an economically important disease in poultry and occasionally infects humans and other mammals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acquisition and retention of H9N2 AIV on and within the house fly, Musca domestica (Linnaeus 1758), under laboratory conditions. In first experiment, 100 adult house flies were divided into control and treatment groups equally. Treatment group was fed with a meal containing H9N2 virus, while control group was supplied with an identical meal without virus. Fifteen minutes after exposure in each group, flies were washed twice to remove surface particles, disinfected and then homogenized for testing. The two external body surface washes and the homogenate samples were tested for H9N2 to distinguish exterior from interior viral load. Second experiment was performed likewise but five flies from each group were taken at 0, 6, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h post-exposure. All samples were subjected to real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) for detecting H9-Specific viral RNA. Results of the first experiment showed that viral RNA was detectable in both of external surface and homogenates samples. Second experiment revealed that persistence of H9N2 AIVs on external body surface and within the body of M. domestica were 24 and 96 h, respectively. Moreover, viral RNAs concentration declined during the time after exposure to AIV H9N2 either outside or within house flies. Overall, house fly was able to acquire and preserve H9N2 AIV experimentally, which may contribute the spread of virus among poultry farms.
Topics: Animals; Chick Embryo; Chickens; Female; Houseflies; Influenza A Virus, H9N2 Subtype; Influenza in Birds; Iran; Male; Ovum; Poultry Diseases; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 31603474
DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjz175 -
Scientific Reports May 2020The housefly (Musca domestica L.) lives in close association with its microbiota and its symbionts are suggested to have pivotal roles in processes such as metabolism...
The housefly (Musca domestica L.) lives in close association with its microbiota and its symbionts are suggested to have pivotal roles in processes such as metabolism and immune response, but it is unclear how the profound physiological changes during ontogeny affect the housefly's associated microbiota and their metabolic capabilities. The present study applies 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to investigate the development of the host-associated microbiota during ontogeny. The potential for microbiota transfer between developmental stages, and the metabolic potential of these microbiota were evaluated. Representatives of Firmicutes were observed as early colonisers during the larval stages, followed by colonisation by organisms affiliating with Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes as the flies matured into adults. Microbiota observed across all the developmental stages included Lactococcus, Lactobacillus and Enterococcus, while Weissella and Chishuiella were associated with newly hatched larvae and adults, respectively. Predictive metabolic profiling of the identified microorganisms further suggested that the microbiota and their functional profile mature alongside their host and putative host-microbe relationships are established at different stages of development. The predicted metabolic capability of the microbiota developed from primarily simple processes including carbohydrate and nucleotide metabolisms, to more complex metabolic pathways including amino acid metabolisms and processes related to signal transduction.
Topics: Animals; Female; Houseflies; Intestines; Life Cycle Stages; Male; Microbiota; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Sex Characteristics; Symbiosis
PubMed: 32398740
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64704-y -
Insect Science Oct 2022Sex-determination mechanisms evolve rapidly and vary between species. Occasionally, polymorphic systems are found, like in the housefly. Studying the dynamics and...
Sex-determination mechanisms evolve rapidly and vary between species. Occasionally, polymorphic systems are found, like in the housefly. Studying the dynamics and stability of such systems can provide a better understanding of the evolution of sex-determination systems. In the housefly, dominant male-determining loci (M) can lie not only on the Y chromosome (M ), but also on autosomes (M ) or the X chromosome (M ). M enforces male development by inhibiting the female-determining gene transformer (tra). A mutant tra allele, tra , is insensitive to M and is a dominant female determiner. M prevails at high latitudes and polymorphic M loci together with tra at low latitudes. To get more insight into the stability and frequencies of these sex determiners with mutually exclusive dominance, we investigated 5 regional Spanish populations. We found strong variation among populations. Two populations with hemizygous M were found, 2 contained homozygous M with additional hemizygous M and M in 1 population. One population contained homozygous and hemizygous M with additionally hemizygous M . All females in populations with homozygous M, had tra , whereas no tra was found in populations without homozygous M. Our results indicate locally stable systems may either harbor a single hemizygous M and no tra , corresponding to a male heterogametic system, or homozygous and/or multiple M and heterozygous tra , reminiscent of a female heterogametic system. They support that M loci can accumulate in the presence of a dominant female determiner. Limited migration between populations may contribute to the stability of these systems.
Topics: Animals; Female; Genetics, Population; Houseflies; Male; Sex Characteristics; Spain
PubMed: 35196409
DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13017 -
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Oct 2021Antibiotics are designed to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals; however, the overuse of various antibiotics and consequent contamination in the environment...
Transcriptome and microbiome analyses of the mechanisms underlying antibiotic-mediated inhibition of larval development of the saprophagous insect Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae).
Antibiotics are designed to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals; however, the overuse of various antibiotics and consequent contamination in the environment can have adverse effects on aquatic, soil, and saprophytic organisms. The house fly, an important decomposer in ecosystems, has been used for bioconversion of human and animal waste. Vermireactors have been used to remove antibiotics from waste for pollution control, but the effects of antibiotics on fly larvae are unclear. In the present work, we aimed to reveal the mechanism underlying the effects of antibiotics on larval growth in house flies at the transcriptome and microbiome levels and the relationships between genes and the microbiota. Observation of house flies after antibiotic exposure showed that gentamicin sulfate and levofloxacin hydrochloride inhibited larval development to a greater extent than amoxicillin. Transcriptome analysis revealed that biological pathways related to protein synthesis and the metabolism of fatty acids, pentose, and glucuronate were significantly enriched in flies exposed to gentamicin sulfate and levofloxacin hydrochloride. Crucial genes in these pathways were identified as candidates for future study. Microbiome analysis revealed three key bacteria that were closely correlated with gentamicin sulfate and levofloxacin hydrochloride exposure. The correlation network between the differentially expressed genes and bacteria identified an important microbic effector, Pseudomonas and its associated genes. This work will improve the knowledge about the mechanism underlying the effects of antibiotics on the larval development of house flies in the environment and provide guidance for improving the application of house fly bioconversion.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Diptera; Houseflies; Humans; Microbiota; Muscidae; Transcriptome
PubMed: 34385061
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112602 -
Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE Aug 2018Stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans, are serious pests of livestock, humans, companion animals and wildlife worldwide. During the last 20+ years, changes in agronomic...
Stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans, are serious pests of livestock, humans, companion animals and wildlife worldwide. During the last 20+ years, changes in agronomic practices resulted in serious outbreaks of stable flies in several countries. These outbreaks disrupted livestock production and human recreation resulting in public demands for increasing research and management efforts for this pest. A simple and inexpensive procedure for rearing stable flies for laboratory studies is presented. The procedure uses locally available diet components, equipment and supplies. The procedure can be adapted for rearing other muscoid flies including face fly (Musca autumnalis), horn fly (Haematobia irritans), and house fly (Musca domestica). The procedure produces stable fly puparia averaging 12.5 mg and ~35% egg to adult survival. Approximately 3000 flies are produced in each pan.
Topics: Animals; Diptera; Houseflies; Laboratories
PubMed: 30124666
DOI: 10.3791/57341