BACKGROUND: In mosquitoes, it has previously been shown that rearing conditions of immature stages have an effect on the vector competence of adults. Here, we studied the impact of different larval rearing temperatures (27 °C versus 32 °C) on the sand fly Phlebotomus sergenti Parrot, 1917 and its susceptibility to two parasites: Leishmania tropica Wright, 1903, a dixenous trypanosomatid transmissible from sand flies to humans, and Psychodiella sergenti Lantova, Volf & Votypka, 2010, a monoxenous sand fly gregarine. RESULTS: Increased rearing temperature (32 °C) affected the larval developmental times and size of P. sergenti adults but had no effect on the susceptibility of P. sergenti to L. tropica. No differences were found in Leishmania infection rates or in the intensities of Leishmania infection. Interestingly, increased larval rearing temperature significantly suppressed the development of gregarines. All 117 control sand flies tested were infected with Ps. sergenti, and the mean number of gamonts per individual was 29.5. In contrast, only three of 120 sand flies maintained at 32 °C were infected and the mean number of gamonts per individual was just 0.04. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that the increased rearing temperature of P. sergenti larvae had no impact on the development of L. tropica in adult sand flies but had a profound effect on the gregarine Ps. sergenti. We suggest that increasing the larval rearing temperature by 5 °C is a simple and effective way to clean sand fly colonies infected by gregarines.

• Klíčová slova
• Effect of temperature, Gregarines, Leishmania tropica, Phlebotomus sergenti, Psychodiella sergenti, Vector competence,
• MeSH
• Apicomplexa fyziologie   MeSH
• dezinsekce MeSH
• hmyz - vektory parazitologie   MeSH
• interakce hostitele a parazita MeSH
• larva fyziologie   MeSH
• Leishmania tropica fyziologie   MeSH
• Phlebotomus růst a vývoj   parazitologie   MeSH
• teplota MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Psychodiella sergenti is a recently described specific pathogen of the sand fly Phlebotomus sergenti, the main vector of Leishmania tropica. The aim of this study was to examine the life cycle of Ps. sergenti in various developmental stages of the sand fly host. The microscopical methods used include scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy of native preparations and histological sections stained with periodic acid-Schiff reaction. Psychodiella sergenti oocysts were observed on the chorion of sand fly eggs. In 1st instar larvae, sporozoites were located in the ectoperitrophic space of the intestine. No intracellular stages were found. In 4th instar larvae, Ps. sergenti was mostly located in the ectoperitrophic space of the intestine of the larvae before defecation and in the intestinal lumen of the larvae after defecation. In adults, the parasite was recorded in the body cavity, where the sexual development was triggered by a bloodmeal intake. Psychodiella sergenti has several unique features. It develops sexually exclusively in sand fly females that took a bloodmeal, and its sporozoites bear a distinctive conoid (about 700 nm long), which is more than 4 times longer than conoids of the mosquito gregarines.

• MeSH
• Apicomplexa klasifikace   růst a vývoj   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• interakce hostitele a parazita MeSH
• kladení vajíček MeSH
• larva ultrastruktura   MeSH
• mikroskopie elektronová rastrovací MeSH
• oocysty ultrastruktura   MeSH
• Phlebotomus růst a vývoj   parazitologie   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• stadia vývoje * MeSH
• transmisní elektronová mikroskopie MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH