Stomoxys calcitrans: estabelecimento de colônia, caracterização da glândula salivar e interação com patógenos

Abstract

Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera), known as stable fly presents great veterinary importance. Males and females feed on blood, a parasitic habit that results in damage to livestock. The consequences of blood feeding include bite stress, which leads to lower weight gain and milk production, and infection with pathogens that S. calcitrans mechanically transmits. The annual economic damage caused by the stable fly in Brazil is estimated at US $ 340 million. Considering the importance of this organism and the damage caused by it in the breeding environments, it is increasingly important to understand different aspects of the biology of S. calcitrans. In the present work, different subjects related to this insect are presented. Chapter I describes the establishment of a colony of S. calcitrans, with the objective of generating insects under laboratory conditions that could be used for controlled experiments. Chapter II describes the fly's salivary glands morphology using optical microscopy, histology, ultrastructure and also lipid composition. In addition the activity of stomoxin, an antimicrobial peptide from S. calcitrans saliva against Leishmania amazonensis and Trypanosoma cruzi. In chapter III we seek to understand how S. calcitrans interacts with pathogens. This is an important step to clarify the dynamics of transmission by this fly, so the model of choice was Leishmania etiologic agent of leishmaniasis, diseases with anthropozoonotic characteristics. Leishmania sp. was able to interact with the intestine of S. calcitrans, but the mechanisms by which this interaction occurs remain yet to be clarified.