First analysis of mitochondrial DNA variability of Cochliomyia hominivorax in domestic animals in Uruguay

Abstract

The New World Screw-worm (NWS) fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax, is an obligate ecto-parasite of warm-blooded vertebrates in the Neotropical region and one of the main insect pest that causes important economic looses in the livestock production. A control program of this pest includes a strategy that contemplates the genetic variability and the structure of the target populations. C. hominivorax was identified as the myiasis causing specie in all the samples of the domestic animals collected in the four localities of Uruguay, indicating a high incidence of the screw-worm fly in this sample. Are presented for the first time, preliminary data of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variability of the samples of C. hominivorax collected in Uruguay utilizing PCR-RFLP markers of the mitochondrial genome. The control region (A+T/12S) and the sub-units l and 2 of the cytochrome oxidase gene (coxl/cox2) of the mtDNA were amplified and digested with restriction enzymes. Polymorphism was detected in the coxl/cox2 region, indicating the presence of different maternal strains in the local populations. The results of this work indicate that the PCR-RFLP technique of the mtDNA is a sensitive method for the study of the genetic variation in the C. hominivorax populations.