Isolation (with enrichment) and characterization of trinucleotide microsatellites from Phlebotomus perniciosus, a vector of Leishmania infantum

Mitochondrial DNA characterization of the sandfly Phlebotomus perniciosus has not resolved the population structure of its Iberian lineage. For this purpose, four AGC- and seven AGG-class microsatellite loci were characterized, after their isolation using Biotin-Avidin enrichment and the screening of plasmid libraries by polymerase chain reaction. Of the five polymorphic loci analysed in four Spanish populations, four showed patterns of allele diversity consistent with migration from a southern Ice Age refuge. Estimates of the historical migration rates of P. perniciosus will help to predict the effects of global warming on its range and that of Leishmania infantum, the parasitic protozoan it transmits.