Distinguishing body lice from head lice by multiplex real-time PCR analysis of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene.

<h4>Background</h4>Body louse or head louse? Once removed from their environment, body and head lice are indistinguishable. Neither the morphological criteria used since the mid-18th century nor the various genetic studies conducted since the advent of molecular biology tools have allowe...

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Autores principales: Rezak Drali, Amina Boutellis, Didier Raoult, Jean Marc Rolain, Philippe Brouqui
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/37e722c340f24520bf9dcf1dd6bf8d76
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Sumario:<h4>Background</h4>Body louse or head louse? Once removed from their environment, body and head lice are indistinguishable. Neither the morphological criteria used since the mid-18th century nor the various genetic studies conducted since the advent of molecular biology tools have allowed body lice and head lice to be differentiated. In this work, using a portion of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene from the body louse, we aimed to develop a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to differentiate between body and head lice in a single reaction.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>A total of 142 human lice were collected from mono-infested hosts from 13 countries on five continents. We first identified the louse clade using a cytochrome b (CYTB) PCR sequence alignment. We then aligned a fragment of the Phum_PHUM540560 gene amplified from head and body lice to design-specific TaqMan(©) FAM- and VIC-labeled probes.<h4>Results</h4>All the analyzed lice were Clade A lice. A total of 22 polymorphisms between the body and head lice were characterized. The multiplex real-time PCR analysis enabled the body and head lice to be distinguished in two hours. This method is simple, with 100% specificity and sensitivity.<h4>Conclusions</h4>We confirmed that the Phum_PHUM540560 gene is a useful genetic marker for the study of lice.