Identification of French Guiana sand flies using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry with a new mass spectra library

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Feb 1;13(2):e0007031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007031. eCollection 2019 Feb.

Abstract

Phlebotomine sand flies are insects that are highly relevant in medicine, particularly as the sole proven vectors of leishmaniasis. Accurate identification of sand fly species is an essential prerequisite for eco-epidemiological studies aiming to better understand the disease. Traditional morphological identification is painstaking and time-consuming, and molecular methods for extensive screening remain expensive. Recent studies have shown that matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a promising tool for rapid and cost-effective identification of arthropod vectors, including sand flies. The aim of this study was to validate the use of MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of Northern Amazonian sand flies. We constituted a MALDI-TOF MS reference database comprising 29 species of sand flies that were field-collected in French Guiana, which are expected to cover many of the more common species of the Northern Amazonian region, including known vectors of leishmaniasis. Carrying out a blind test, all the sand flies tested (n = 157) with a log (score) threshold greater than 1.7 were correctly identified at the species level. We confirmed that MALDI-TOF MS protein profiling is a useful tool for the study of sand flies, including neotropical species, known for their great diversity. An application that includes the spectra generated here will be available to the scientific community in the near future via an online platform.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Female
  • French Guiana
  • Gene Library
  • Male
  • Phlebotomus / genetics*
  • Species Specificity
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods*

Grants and funding

This study was conducted within the RESERVOIRS program supported by European (ERDF/FEDER) funds and assistance from Collectivité Territoriale de la Guyane and Direction Régionale pour la Recherche et la Technologie, and the MicroBIOME project granted by Laboratoire d’Excellence CEBA “Investissement d’Avenir” and managed by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (CEBA, Ref. ANR-10-LABEX-25-01). AC benefits from a PhD grant from the Université de Guyane. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.