Maternal invasion history of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus into the Isthmus of Panama: Implications for the control of emergent viral disease agents

Abstract

Despite an increase in dengue outbreaks and the arrival of chikungunya and Zika disease in Panama, studies on the demographic history of the invasive Aedes mosquitoes that are the principle vectors of these diseases are still lacking in this region. Here, we assess the genetic diversity of these mosquitoes in order to decipher their invasion histories into the Isthmus of Panama. DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase I gene obtained from 30 localities in 10 provinces confirmed the presence of more than one mitochondrial haplogroup (i.e., maternal lineage) in each species. The invasion of Aedes albopictus was likely from temperate European countries, as the most frequent and widespread haplogroup in Panama harbored variants that are uncommon elsewhere in the Americas. Two infrequent and geographically restricted Ae. albopictus haplotypes appear to have subsequently invaded Panama from neighboring Costa Rica and the USA, respectively. In addition, we recovered two deeply divergent mitochondrial clades in Panamanian Aedes aegypti. The geographic origins of these clades is unknown, given that divergence in the mitochondrial genome is probably due to ancient population processes within the native range of Ae. aegypti, rather than due to its global expansion out of Africa. However, Panamanian Ae. aegypti mitochondrial sequences within the first clade were closely related to others from Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and the USA, suggesting two separate invasions from Western Hemisphere source populations. The pattern of increased genetic diversity in Aedes mosquitoes in Panama is likely facilitated by the numerous land and water inter-connections across the country, which allows them to enter via sea- and land-transportation from Europe, North, Central and South America. Our results here should be considered in disease mitigation programs if emergent arboviruses are to be effectively diminished in Panama through vector suppression.

Phylogeography and invasion history of Aedes aegypti, the Dengue and Zika mosquito vector in Cape Verde islands (West Africa)

“…samples from Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Guinea. The levels of nucleotide diversity (π) are similar to values reported in West Africa for both COI and ND4 (Bennett et al, 2016;Paupy et al, 2008), and much lower than the values reported for East Africa (Bennett et al, 2016), America (Eskildsen et al, 2018;Jaimes-Dueñez, Arboleda, Triana-Chávez, & Gómez-Palacio, 2015;Scarpassa, Cardoza, & Cardoso, 2008;Twerdochlib et al, 2012), and Asia (Bosio et al, 2005), possibly due to multiple introduction events in those continents (Bracco, Capurro, Lourenço-de-Oliveira, & Sallum, 2007;Powell & Tabachnick, 2013).…”

Detecting space-time clusters of dengue fever in Panama after adjusting for vector surveillance data

“…aegypti throughout numerous regions in its endemic range [14], Ae. albopictus has been spreading throughout Panama for the previous 13 years [12,13]. Our results illustrate that it has not been a key driver of dengue prevalence throughout its time occurring in the country, but that more importantly, there is reason to believe that dengue rates may decrease as the species further proliferates, extirpating Ae.…”

“…aegypti is considered resident to Latin America and Panama since the 19 th century, and the primary source of transmission [11] while Ae. albopictus , considered a secondary vector, has been spreading throughout the region ever since it got introduced in Panama in 2004 [12,13]. Widespread extirpation of Ae.…”

Population genomics of two invasive mosquitoes (Aedes aegyptiandAedes albopictus) from the Indo-Pacific

“…This study uses high-resolution markers to compare patterns of broad-scale genetic structure in Aedes spp. Few such comparative studies have been conducted [37,38], and none have used high-resolution molecular markers, which have demonstrated greater power to distinguish between Aedes populations [39]. We also test landscape genomic hypotheses of isolation by distance [40] and isolation by environment [41]; specifically, whether genetic differentiation is lower between locations with high connectivity to human transportation routes.…”