Identification of cuticle and midgut fungal microflora of phlebotomine sandflies collected in Tunisia

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are the proven vectors of Leishmaniases which are widespread parasitosis in many tropical and subtropical countries. The development of infective metacyclic Leishmania (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) promastigotes stage is restricted to the vector midgut. Recently, several studies have assessed the influence of the sand fly midgut fungal microflora on the development of invective Leishmania stage. The aim of this study was to identify the fungal microflora from the cuticle and midgut of wild caught sandflies. A total of 50 sandflies were caught in two different leishmaniasis foci of center Tunisia and analyzed using an in vitro isolation of fungi followed by a morphological and molecular identification of fungal isolates. The morphological identification of sandflies specimens revealed five Species: Phlebotomus ( P.) papatasi ( n = 25), P. perniciosus ( n = 15) P. riouxi ( n = 6), P. longicuspis ( n = 3) and P. sergenti ( n = 1). Forty positive fungal cultures were isolated from 34 sand flies (19 males and 15 females) distributed as following: P. papatasi ( n = 16), P. perniciosus ( n = 11), P. riouxi ( n = 4), P. longicuspis ( n = 2) and P. sergenti ( n = 1). Thirty-five cultures were isolated from the cuticles and five from the guts. A total of 15 fungi genera belonging to 8 families were identified with the predominance of Aspergillus genus followed by Penicillium genus. Among the 15 fungi genera, five were common between males and females specimens. Lecytophora canina and Leishmania major co-infection was detected in the gut of a female P. papatasi . Our preliminary findings highlight the high diversity of fungal microflora from the sand flies midguts.