First Molecular Identification of Phlebotomine Sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Nineveh Governorate, Northern of Iraq

Abstract

Abstract Background: The dipteran phlebotominae sandflies are considered a major threat to public health because they are proven vectors of leishmaniasis, phleboviruses, and some species of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, scientists paid great attention to studying it at the phenotypic and molecular levels. In Iraq, leishmaniasis is considered an endemic disease and exists in its visceral and cutaneous forms (Baghdad boil). Its spread is greater in the southern regions than in the northern regions due to high temperatures, which in turn leads to an increase in the widespread of the sandflies. Given the lack of studies in the northern region of Iraq, this study was conducted and included a survey of all provinces of the Nineveh Governorate (the second governorate in Iraq in terms of population density). Methods: The sandflies collection process was performed during the period from May 2023 to February 2024, and DT150-TUN light traps were used for this purpose. For the initial phenotypic identification, several taxonomic keys of the subfamily phlebotomine were used as male genitalia, pharynx, and female spermatheca. Conventional polymerase chain reaction based on the amplification of the COI gene was performed for the molecular process of 60 captured sandflies from about 34 regions and 89 sites. Before performing a phylogenetic tree, high-quality sequences are matching with the closest global isolates in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Results: A total of 4861 (2034 males and 2827 females) sandflies were captured in the current study and five species were identified belong to two genera (Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia). Sandflies were found to be more widespread in Mosul province and Phlebotomus papatasi was the most widespread of the rest of the species. Molecular results confirmed the other results of the study, and isolates of the identified species were recorded in NCBI. Conclusion: The current study demonstrated the importance of sandflie identification using molecular methods and was able for the first time from molecular identification of three species in Iraq. It is also the first molecular study of sandflies at the level of the Nineveh Governorate