Mitochondrial cytochrome b variation in populations of the visceral leishmaniasis vector Lutzomyia longipalpis across eastern Brazil.

A population analysis of peridomestic, light-trapped, field specimens of the phlebotomine sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis was targeted to six locations representing a geographic transect across eastern Brazil. Mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences established the pattern of genetic variation among the populations. Alignment of a 261-basepair region at the 3' end of cytochrome b identified 30 haplotypes and 21 segregating sites from 78 sand flies.

Rapid identification of mitochondrial cytochrome B haplotypes by single strand conformation polymorphism in Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) populations.

Newly designed primers amplified a 365-bp fragment including the 3' end of mitochondrial cytochromeb (cyt b). Field collected specimens of the sand fly, Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz and Neiva), from two Brazil locations provided test DNA. The primers, based on consensus sequences from a taxonomic spectrum of arthropods, have also amplified DNA successfully from Lutzomyia shannoni Dyar, Lutzomyia cruzi (Mangabeira), and the mosquito Aedes albopictus (Skuse).