Genetic divergence in mitochondrial DNA of Anopheles nuneztovari (Diptera: Culicidae) from Brazil and Colombia

Abstract

In the present study, we have examined the variability in Anopheles nuneztovari mitochondrial DNA of three populations from the Brazilian Amazon and one from western Colombia (Sitronela), using four restriction endonucleases (BclI, ClaI, HindIII, SstI). The haplotype diversity (h) was slightly elevated in all populations (0.5000 to 0.6765), whereas the nucleotide diversity (π) was lower in the Sitronela population (0.0029) and higher in populations from the Brazilian Amazon (0.0056 to 0.0098). The degree of sequence divergence (δ) estimated within the Brazilian Amazon and that in Sitronela (0.0329 to 0.0371) suggests that these geographic populations of A. nuneztovari may eventually constitute separate species. The low sequence divergence values among the three Brazilian Amazon populations (0.0012 to 0.0031) indicate that these populations are genetically similar. These results are consistent with those recently reported for allozymes of these same populations.

Mitochondrial DNA Detects a Complex Evolutionary History with Pleistocene Epoch Divergence for the Neotropical Malaria Vector Anopheles nuneztovari Sensu Lato

“…Unlike earlier studies that detected higher levels of differentiation between Amazon Basin and Colombia/Venezuela populations, [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] our results identified the deepest divergence and earliest divergence time between clade I and subclade II-B, both within the Amazon Basin. These discrepant results could have been caused by more localities from the central Amazonian Brazil being sampled in the present study.…”

“…[61][62][63] The samples from the Amazon Basin tended to have higher genetic diversity, in particular nucleotide diversity, than those from Bolivia/ Colombia/Venezuela. These differences were congruent with those of previous mitochondrial and nuclear gene studies 22,[25][26][27][28]64 and can be indicative of cryptic species, or possibly differences in effective population size ( N e) or other events related to the history of these populations. The highest genetic diversity was observed for localities in the central region of Amazonian Brazil.…”

“…10 However, mosquitoes collected from the central Amazonian region have been mainly zoophagic and exophilic. 7 In the present study and in the study of Scarpassa and others, 27 samples from these two regions had no shared haplotypes and were recognized as distinct lineages by Conn and others, 26 which could indicate a barrier to gene flow. If this suggestion is correct, this finding may explain distinct behavioral patterns of these mosquitoes.…”

“…[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Morphologic comparisons showed that the apex of the aedeagus is distinct between samples from the Amazon Basin and Colombia plus Venezuela. 3,18 These data combined with molecular analyses led to the resurrection of An.…”

“…[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] However, within Amazonian Brazil, internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) 22 and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) 26 analyses indicated multiple lineages, and a lack of gene flow between the central and eastern regions. 27 A recent study using nuclear white gene sequences described five lineages in An. nuneztovari s.l.…”