One of the most overlooked areas in forensic entomology is urban, which applies
to insects and their arthropod relatives that have interactions with humans, their
associated structures, and companion animals. American cockroaches, Periplaneta
americana (L.), are common pests of urban environments. Analyzing spatial distribution
of P. americana populations in an artificial, outdoor environment provided insight of
gene flow among populations collected in central Texas. This information provides for a
better understanding of how and if populations were segregated, or if there was a single
unified population. Populations can be genetically differentiated through determining
variation of specific gene regions within populations. This study revealed a ubiquitous
distribution of cockroach populations, and their ability to indiscriminately inhabit areas
within an urban environment. Overall, cockroaches were identified from a large
interbreeding population with no discernable relationship between genetic variation of P.
americana and spatial distribution.
Identifying cockroach populations is relative to understanding the ability of
surrogate species indirectly affecting man by their ability to transfer disease-causing organisms including bacteria. This may have potentially deleterious health consequences
on animal and/or human populations. There are several pathogens associated with
cockroaches which are overlooked during diagnosis of sudden ailments with symptoms
being similar to food-borne illnesses, including abdominal cramping, diarrhea, nausea,
and fever. Analyzing spatial distributions of Escherichia coli and Campylobacter spp. in
relationship to collected cockroaches allowed for prevalence of bacteria species to be
identified among populations. The prevalence of bacteria isolated from total populations
collected indicated a high prevalence (92.3%) of bacteria carried by the exoskeleton of
P. americana. Gram-negative bacteria acquisition and dissemination of organisms such
as E. coli was prevalent on campus. Screening for E. coli 1057:H7 and Campylobacter
spp. resulted in no positive colony growth. The lack of Campylobacter spp. growth from
cuticular surfaces may have resulted from undesirable conditions required to sustain
colony growth. Data from this study corroborates the potential ability of cockroaches to
mechanically transmit pathogens.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2008-08-36 |
| Date | 16 January 2010 |
| Creators | Pechal, Jennifer |
| Contributors | Gold, Roger E., Tomberlin, Jeffery K. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds