Culex pipiens s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae)’nin Türkiye’nin Kuzeydoğusundaki Konak Tercihleri ve Kuş Kökenli Arbovirüslerin Bulaşma Ekolojisine Yansımaları

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 6, 972 - 977, 30.11.2025

Muhammet Mustafa Akıner , Murat Öztürk , Rıdvan Demirtaş , Fatih Şaban Beriş

https://doi.org/10.35229/jaes.1807148

Öz

Culex pipiens’in konakla beslenme örüntülerinin anlaşılması, bu türün zoonotik bulaşma döngülerindeki rolünün aydınlatılması açısından önemlidir. Bu çalışmada, 2022 yılı Haziran–Eylül ayları arasında Türkiye’nin kuzeydoğu illerindeki 14 lokaliteden kanla beslenmiş Culex pipiens dişileri toplanmıştır. Toplam 42 kanla beslenmiş örnek üzerinde DNA ekstraksiyonu yapılmış; omurgalı konak türlerinin tanımlanması, mitokondriyal sitokrom c oksidaz alt birimi I (COI) geninin PCR amplifikasyonu ve bunu izleyen dizi analizi ile gerçekleştirilmiştir.
Sonuçlar, Culex pipiens’in baskın olarak kuş konaklardan beslendiğini ve özellikle Fringilla coelebs, Turdus pilaris, Corvus corax ve Cyanistes caeruleus gibi yerel ve göçmen kuş türlerini tercih ettiğini ortaya koymuştur. Ayrıca Rattus norvegicus, Canis lupus ve Homo sapiens gibi memeli konaklar da tespit edilmiştir; bu durum, türün fırsatçı bir beslenme davranışı sergilediğini göstermektedir. COI dizilerinin filogenetik analizi, konak tanımlamasının doğruluğunu teyit etmiş ve kuş ile memeli taksonları arasında belirgin kümelenme örüntülerini ortaya koymuştur.
Bu çalışma, Türkiye’nin kuzeydoğusunda Culex pipiens’in konak tercihleri üzerine yapılan ilk moleküler bulguları sunmaktadır. Elde edilen sonuçlar, türün baskın ornitofilik eğilimini vurgularken aynı zamanda kuş ve memeli konaklar arasında potansiyel bir köprü vektör rolü üstlenebileceğini de ortaya koymaktadır. Kanla beslenmiş örnek sayısının azlığı ve DNA elde etme süresinin kısıtlı olması gibi sınırlılıklara rağmen, bu çalışma bölgesel düzeyde değerli veriler sağlamış ve Türkiye’deki (ve ötesindeki) vektör–konak etkileşimlerinin gelecekteki ekolojik ve epidemiyolojik değerlendirmelerine katkı sunmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Culex pipiens , Vektör tür , COI

Host Preferences of Culex pipiens s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae) in Northeastern Turkiye and Theır Implications for the Transmission Ecology of Avian Arboviruses

Öz

Understanding the host-feeding patterns of Culex pipiens is essential to elucidate its role in zoonotic transmission cycles. In this study, blood-fed Culex pipiens females were collected from 14 localities across the northeastern provinces of Türkiye between June and September 2022. A total of 42 blood-fed specimens were subjected to DNA extraction, and vertebrate host identification was performed through PCR amplification of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, followed by sequence analysis. The results revealed that Culex pipiens predominantly fed on avian hosts, particularly on both local and migratory bird species such as Fringilla coelebs, Turdus pilaris, Corvus corax, and Cyanistes caeruleus. Mammalian hosts were also detected, including Rattus norvegicus, Canis lupus, and Homo sapiens, suggesting opportunistic feeding behavior. Phylogenetic analysis of COI sequences confirmed accurate host identification and demonstrated clear clustering patterns among avian and mammalian taxa.
This study provides the first molecular insights into the host preferences of Culex pipiens in northeastern Türkiye. The findings highlight the species’ predominant ornithophilic tendency while emphasizing its potential bridge-vector capacity between avian and mammalian hosts. Despite limitations due to the small number of blood-fed specimens and the narrow time window for DNA retrieval, this study contributes valuable regional data and supports future ecological and epidemiological assessments of vector–host interactions in Türkiye and beyond.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Culex pipiens , Vector species , COI

Etik Beyan

This study does not require any ethics committee approval

Kaynakça

• Becker, N., Petric, D., Zgomba, M., Boase, C., Madon, M., Dahl, C., & Kaiser, A. (2010). Mosquitoes and their control. Springer Science & Business Media. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-92874-4
• Bellekom, B., Bailey, A., England, M., Langlands, Z., Lewis, O.T. & Hackett, T.D. (2023). Effects of storage conditions and digestion time on DNA amplification of biting midge (Culicoides) blood meals. Parasites & Vectors, 16(1), 13. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-022-05607-x
• Bhowmick, S., Fritz, M.L. & Smith, R.L. (2024). Host- feeding preferences and temperature shape the dynamics of West Nile virus: A mathematical model to predict the impacts of vector-host interactions and vector management on R₀. Acta Tropica, 258, 107346. DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107346
• Borland, E.M. & Kading, R.C. (2021). Modernizing the toolkit for arthropod bloodmeal identification. Insects, 12(1), 37. DOI: 10.3390/insects12010037
• Calzolari, M., Bonilauri, P., Bellini, R., Albieri, A., Defilippo, F., Maioli, G. & Dottori, M. (2010). Evidence of simultaneous circulation of West Nile and Usutu viruses in mosquitoes sampled in Emilia-Romagna region (Italy) in 2009. PLoS One, 5(12), e14324. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014324
• Dobson, A. (2009). Climate variability, global change, immunity, and the dynamics of infectious diseases. Ecology, 90(4), 920-927. DOI: 10.1890/08-0736.1
• Ergunay, K., Whitehouse, C. A. & Ozkul, A. (2011). Current status of human arboviral diseases in Turkey. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 11(6), 731-741. DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2010.0162
• Faraji, A. & Gaugler, R. (2015). Experimental host preference of diapause and non-diapause induced Culex pipiens pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasites & Vectors, 8(1), 389. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-1012-1
• Farajollahi, A., Fonseca, D. M., Kramer, L. D. & Kilpatrick, A. M. (2011). “Bird biting” mosquitoes and human disease: A review of the role of Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes in epidemiology. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 11(7), 1577-1585. DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2011.08.013
• Fonseca, D. M., Keyghobadi, N., Malcolm, C. A., Mehmet, C., Schaffner, F., Mogi, M. & Wilkerson, R. C. (2004). Emerging vectors in the Culex pipiens complex. Science, 303(5663), 1535-1538. DOI: 10.1126/science.1094247
• Hamer, G. L., Kitron, U. D., Goldberg, T. L., Brawn, J. D., Loss, S. R., Ruiz, M. O. & Walker, E. D. (2009). Host selection by Culex pipiens mosquitoes and West Nile virus amplification. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 80(2), 268-278. DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2009.80.268
• Hebert, P., Cywinska, A., Ball, S. L. & deWaard, J. R. (2003). Biological identifications through DNA barcodes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 270(1512), 313-321. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2002.2218
• Kapustová, A., Kulich Fialová, M., Svobodová, M. & Brzoňová, J. (2025). Combining blood meal analysis and parasite detection yields a more comprehensive understanding of insect host feeding patterns. Parasites & Vectors, 18(1), 288. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-025-06931-8
• Kent, R.J. (2009). Molecular methods for arthropod bloodmeal identification and applications to ecological and vector-borne disease studies. Molecular Ecology Resources, 9(1), 4-18. DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2008.02469.x
• Kirwan, G., Demirci, B., Welch, H., Boyla, K., Özen, M., Castell, P. & Marlow, T. (2010). The birds of Turkey. Bloomsbury Publishing.
• Kuno, G. & Chang, G.J.J. (2005). Biological transmission of arboviruses: reexamination of and new insights into components, mechanisms, and unique traits as well as their evolutionary trends. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 18(4), 608-637. DOI: 10.1128/CMR.18.4.608-637.2005
• Öncü, C., Brinkmann, A., Günay, F., Kar, S., Öter, K., Sarıkaya, Y. & Ergünay, K. (2018). West Nile virus, Anopheles flavivirus, a novel flavivirus as well as Merida-like rhabdovirus Turkey in field- collected mosquitoes from Thrace and Anatolia. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 57, 36-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2017.11.003
• Öztürk, M. & Akiner, M.M. (2023). Molecular phylogenetics of Aedes aegypti (L., 1762) (Diptera: Culicidae) in Eastern Black Sea area of Turkey and possible relations with the Caucasian invasion. Turkish Journal of Zoology, 47(3), 155- 169. DOI: 10.55730/1300-0179.3127
• Pitzer, J.B., Kaufman, P.E., Tenbroeck, S.H. & Maruniak, J.E. (2014). Host blood meal identification by multiplex polymerase chain reaction for dispersal evidence of stable flies (Diptera: Muscidae) between livestock facilities. Journal of Medical Entomology, 48(1), 53-60. DOI: 10.1603/me10123
• Reed, K.D., Meece, J.K., Henkel, J.S. & Shukla, S.K. (2003). Birds, migration and emerging zoonoses: West Nile virus, Lyme disease, influenza A and enteropathogens. Clinical Medicine & Research, 1(1), 5-12. DOI: 10.3121/cmr.1.1.5
• Rodríguez‐Valencia, V., Olive, M. M., Le Goff, G., Faisse, M., Bourel, M., L'Ambert, G. & Roiz, D. (2025). Host‐feeding preferences of Culex pipiens and its potential significance for flavivirus transmission in the Camargue, France. Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 39(3), 614-625. DOI: 10.1111/mve.12802
• Roiz, D., Ruiz, S., Soriguer, R. & Figuerola, J. (2015). Landscape effects on the presence, abundance and diversity of mosquitoes in Mediterranean wetlands. PLoS One, 10(6), e0128112. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128112
• Ryan, S. J. (2020). Mapping thermal physiology of vector- borne diseases in a changing climate: shifts in geographic and demographic risk of suitability. Current environmental health reports, 7(4), 415- 423. DOI:10.1007/s40572-020-00290-5
• Santos, C.S., Pie, M.R., da Rocha, T.C. & Navarro- Silva, M.A. (2019). Molecular identification of blood meals in mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) in urban and forested habitats in southern Brazil. PloS one, 14(2), e0212517. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212517
• Simpson, J.E., Folsom-O'Keefe, C.M., Childs, J.E., Simons, L.E., Andreadis, T.G., & Diuk- Wasser, M.A. (2009). Avian host-selection by Culex pipiens in experimental trials. PLoS One, 4(11), e7861. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007861