Molecular identification and characterization of medically and veterinary important flies of Bangladesh based on mitochondrial COI gene sequences

Abstract

Flies are considered serious pests which cause health problems of human and animal, transmitting many pathogenic microbes. Pest management programs depend on proper identification of pests. The present research work is an initiative to identify the medically and veterinary important flies based on mitochondrial COI gene sequences. Eleven species of the fly pests were identified. Among them, four fly species were the first record from Bangladesh. The phylogenetic analysis of retrieved sequences confirmed that the evolution of these species occurred from a common ancestor. Highest AT percentage (69.9%) was found in Haematobia irritans exigua and lowest GC percentage (30.4%) was found in Haematobia irritans exigua. The substitution rate of codon was found 1.88 in 1st position, 0.73 in 2nd position and 1.22 in 3rd position, respectively. Interspecific genetic divergence range of flies sequences was 5-20%. Haplotype network showed that Atylotus agrestis was mostly diverged from its common ancestors by 37 mutational steps. This research is the first molecular approach to identify the medically and veterinary important flies based on MT-COI gene sequences along with the establishment of first DNA barcode dataset for accurate identification in Bangladesh.