<i>Ctenocephalides felis</i> and <i>Ctenocephalides canis</i>: introgressive hybridization?

Zurita, Antonio; Callejón, Rocío; Rojas, Manuel de; Halajian, Ali; Cutillas, Cristina

doi:10.1111/syen.12174

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…This nuclear marker could not reproduce the separation of highly divergent mitochondrial lineages within Ct. felis felis . On the other hand, while it also failed to demonstrate any differences between the well-established species Ct. felis and Ct. canis (similarly to what has been reported [ 33 ]), this method proved to be suitable to distinguish between three species of the genus Chaetopsylla (Fig. 5 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

High mitochondrial sequence divergence in synanthropic flea species (Insecta: Siphonaptera) from Europe and the Mediterranean

et al. 2018

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BackgroundAdult fleas are haematophagous ectoparasites of warm-blooded vertebrates, particularly mammals. Among them, the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) and the human flea (Pulex irritans) have high veterinary-medical significance, owing to their cosmopolitan distribution and role in the transmission of important vector-borne pathogens. While the taxonomy of Ct. felis has been investigated on a morphological basis during the past decades, its molecular-phylogenetic analyses have been only recently conducted. This study expands the knowledge on Ct. felis from hitherto less studied geographical regions, and includes representatives from additional flea families, less investigated with molecular approaches.MethodsFleas were collected in four countries of the Mediterranean Basin (Croatia, Italy, Malta and Israel), as well as in Hungary, from domestic and wild carnivores, rodents and humans. The DNA extracts of representative fleas (n = 148), belonging to ten species of eight genera, were used for PCR amplification of part of their cytochrome c oxidase subunits 1, 2 (cox1, cox2) and 18S rRNA genes, followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analyses.ResultsThe majority (65.6%) of Ct. felis felis cox2 sequences showed 99.4–100% similarity to each other (haplogroup A), whereas those from Malta and Israel had 98.1–98.7% sequence similarity (haplogroup B), and a third sequence from Israel (haplotype C) had as low as 96.3% sequence similarity in comparison with a reference sequence from group “A”. Except for the shape of the head, no consistent morphological differences (e.g. in chaetotaxy) were found between haplogroups “A” and “C”. Haplotypes of Ct. canis were genetically more homogenous, with 99.6–100% sequence similarity to each other. However, when P. irritans collected from humans was compared to those from three species of wild carnivores, these only had 96.6% cox2 similarity. The mouse flea, Leptopsylla segnis and the northern rat flea, Nosopsyllus fasciatus were both shown to have haplotypes with low intraspecific cox2 similarities (96.2 and 94.4%, respectively). Taken together, differences between mitochondrial lineages within four flea species exceeded that observed between two Chaetopsylla spp. (which had 97.3% cox2 similarity). The topologies of cox1 and cox2 phylogenetic trees were in line with relevant sequence comparisons. Conversely, 18S rRNA gene analyses only resolved differences above the species level.ConclusionsCtenocephalides felis felis, P. irritans, L. segnis and N. fasciatus were shown to have such a high level of mitochondrial gene heterogeneity, that the uniformity of these flea taxa should be reconsidered. Although the present results are limited (especially in the case of L. segnis and N. fasciatus), there appears to be no geographical or host restriction, which could explain the divergence of these genetic lineages.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2798-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

High mitochondrial sequence divergence in synanthropic flea species (Insecta: Siphonaptera) from Europe and the Mediterranean

et al. 2018

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“…Characters on the aedeagus such as the hamulus, lobes and tubus interior permit the identification of most of the species of Ctenocephalides [ 13 ]. However, the existence of morphological variations of characters used to differentiate C. f. felis and C. canis require that host data, geographical distribution, and the prevalence of infestations also be used in their determination [ 14 , 15 ]. From a systematic perspective, four subspecies of cat fleas had existed for six decades; namely, C. felis damarensis , C. felis felis , C. felis orientis , and C. felis strongylus [ 16 ].…”

Section: Cat Flea Biology and Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Biology and Ecology of Cat Fleas and Advancements in Their Pest Management: A Review

Rust

2017

Insects

114

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The cat flea Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouché) is the most important ectoparasite of domestic cats and dogs worldwide. It has been two decades since the last comprehensive review concerning the biology and ecology of C. f. felis and its management. Since then there have been major advances in our understanding of the diseases associated with C. f. felis and their implications for humans and their pets. Two rickettsial diseases, flea-borne spotted fever and murine typhus, have been identified in domestic animal populations and cat fleas. Cat fleas are the primary vector of Bartonella henselae (cat scratch fever) with the spread of the bacteria when flea feces are scratched in to bites or wounds. Flea allergic dermatitis (FAD) common in dogs and cats has been successfully treated and tapeworm infestations prevented with a number of new products being used to control fleas. There has been a continuous development of new products with novel chemistries that have focused on increased convenience and the control of fleas and other arthropod ectoparasites. The possibility of feral animals serving as potential reservoirs for flea infestations has taken on additional importance because of the lack of effective environmental controls in recent years. Physiological insecticide resistance in C. f. felis continues to be of concern, especially because pyrethroid resistance now appears to be more widespread. In spite of their broad use since 1994, there is little evidence that resistance has developed to many of the on-animal or oral treatments such as fipronil, imidacloprid or lufenuron. Reports of the perceived lack of performance of some of the new on-animal therapies have been attributed to compliance issues and their misuse. Consequentially, there is a continuing need for consumer awareness of products registered for cats and dogs and their safety.

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“…Thus, these nuclear markers were useful to differentiate A. erinacei from Seville and Corse. Marrugal et al (2013) reported similar values of similarity and Zurita et al (2016), who reported an inter-specific similarity ranged from 91.8 to 96% between ITS sequences of C. felis and C. canis isolated from dogs from different geographical areas. These geographical signals in fleas have previously been reported by Luchetti et al (2007), who noticed the presence of two genotypic groups (Pacific and Atlantic) based on the analysis of ITS2 sequences of Tunga penetrans from Ecuador, Brazil and different geographical areas of Africa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…According to ITS's analyses, ITS2 sequences of both subspecies were markedly shorter than ITS1 sequences. Vobis et al (2004) and Zurita et al (2015Zurita et al ( , 2016Zurita et al ( , 2018 have previously reported this fact in other species of fleas such as C. felis, Stenoponia tripectinata tripectinata, C. canis, N. barbarus, and N. fasciatus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Previous studies showed that fleas have a high level of genetic intraspecific variation (Dittmar & Whiting, 2003;Brinkerhoff et al, 2011). Thus, several authors in the last 10 years (Kaewmongkol et al, 2011;Lawrence et al, 2014;Zhu et al, 2015;Zurita et al, 2015Zurita et al, , 2016 have used mitochondrial DNA markers such as cox1, coxII or cytb as reference molecular markers in order to investigate the phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships in fleas at family, genus and species level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Morphological, biometrical and molecular characterization of Archaeopsylla erinacei (Bouché, 1835)

Zurita

Callejón

Rojas

et al. 2017

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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In the present work, we carried out a morphological, biometrical and molecular study of the species Archaeopsylla erinacei (Bouché, 1835) and their subspecies: Archaeopsylla erinacei erinacei (Bouché, 1835) and Archaeopsylla erinacei maura (Jordan & Rothschild, 1912) isolated from hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) from different geographical regions (Seville and Corse). We have found morphological differences in females of A. erinacei from the same geographical origin that did not correspond with molecular differences. We suggest that some morphological characters traditionally used to discriminate females of both subspecies should be revised as well as we set the total length of the spermatheca as a valid criterion in order to discriminate between both subspecies. The Internal Transcribed Spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1, ITS2) and partial 18S rRNA gene, and partial cytochrome c-oxidase 1 (cox1) and cytochrome b (cytb) mtDNA gene sequences were determined to clarify the taxonomic status of these taxa and to assess intra-specific and intra-population similarity. In addition, a phylogenetic analysis with other species of fleas using Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood analysis was performed. All molecular markers used, except 18S, showed molecular differences between populations corresponding with geographical origins. Thus, based on the phylogenetic and molecular study of two nuclear markers (ITS1, ITS2) and two mitochondrial markers (cox1 and cytb), as well as concatenated sequences of both subspecies, we reported the existence of two geographical genetic lineages in A. erinacei corresponding with two different subspecies: A. e. erinacei (Corse, France) and A. e. maura (Seville, Spain), that could be discriminated by polymerase chain reaction-linked random-fragment-length polymorphism.

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Ctenocephalides felis and Ctenocephalides canis: introgressive hybridization?

Cited by 15 publications

References 65 publications

High mitochondrial sequence divergence in synanthropic flea species (Insecta: Siphonaptera) from Europe and the Mediterranean

High mitochondrial sequence divergence in synanthropic flea species (Insecta: Siphonaptera) from Europe and the Mediterranean

The Biology and Ecology of Cat Fleas and Advancements in Their Pest Management: A Review

Morphological, biometrical and molecular characterization of Archaeopsylla erinacei (Bouché, 1835)

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