Affiliations 

  • 1 Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), High Impact Research (HIR) Building & Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), High Impact Research (HIR) Building & Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: loongsk@um.edu.my
  • 3 Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), High Impact Research (HIR) Building & Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: zyacob@um.edu.my
  • 4 Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 5 Institute Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 6 Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), High Impact Research (HIR) Building & Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 29634-0310, USA
Acta Trop, 2021 Jul;219:105923.
PMID: 33878305 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.105923

Abstract

Although the microbiome of blood-feeding insects serves an integral role in host physiology, both beneficial and pathogenic, little is known of the microbial community of black flies. An investigation, therefore, was undertaken to identify culturable bacteria from one of Malaysia's most common black flies, Simulium tani Takaoka and Davies, using 16S rDNA sequencing, and then evaluate the isolates for antibiotic resistance and virulence genes. A total of 20 isolates representing 11 bacterial species in four genera were found. Five isolates showed β-hemolysis on Columbia agar, and virulence genes were found in three of these isolates. Some degree of resistance to six of the 12 tested antibiotics was found among the isolates. The baseline data from this study suggest rich opportunities for comparative studies exploring the diversity and roles of the microbiome of S. tani and other Southeast Asian black flies.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.