The biogeography and population genetics of neotropical vector species

Abstract

Phylogenetic and population genetic data support the Pliocene or Pleistocene divergences of the co-distributed hematophagous insect vectors, the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis s.l., the mosquitoes Anopheles darlingi and A. albitarsis s.l., and the triatomines Rhodnius prolixus and R. robustus. We examined patterns of divergence and distribution in relation to three hypotheses of neotropical diversification: Miocene/Pliocene marine incursion, Pliocene/ Pleistocene riverine barriers and Pleistocene refugia. Only R. prolixus has a pattern concordant with the refugia hypothesis, and R. robustus conforms to the marine incursion predictions. A. darlingi partially fits the refugia hypothesis. For L. longipalpis s.l. and A. albitarsis s.l., elements of both incursion and refugia hypotheses seem to fit, suggesting perhaps an interaction of factors determining their distribution patterns.

Microgeographic Genetic Variation of the Malaria Vector Anopheles darlingi Root (Diptera: Culicidae) from Córdoba and Antioquia, Colombia

“…darlingi white gene lineages. 29,30 For many years, insecticidal control has been used as an important tool to decrease vector densities in different states in Colombia. 34,35 36 For MS analysis, specimens collected from VAL (n = 2) were not genotyped and specimens from ZAR (n = 8) that were genotyped were combined with samples from BAG whenever comparisons of population pairs were performed because otherwise the small sample size would not enable calculation of reliable results.…”

“…darlingi populations throughout Central and South America; the northern lineage was found in Central America, parts of Colombia and Venezuela, and the southern lineage was found in Brazil and Peru, and both genotypes/lineages co-occur in localities in Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia. 20,29,30 The distribution of An. darlingi in Colombia appears to be irregular and interrupted by the Andes mountains; it has been found below an altitude of 500 meters and it is considered the most important malaria vector in the Urabá, Bajo Cauca, and Magdalena Medio regions and in Llanos Orientales, Amazonia, and Orinoquia.…”

“…darlingi specimen to determine whether populations from Antioquia and Córdoba were closest to the northern and/or the southern lineage. 29,30 To verify the RFLP patterns observed by electrophoresis, an in silico test was implemented in Geneious software version 4.7.…”

Evidence for Pleistocene Population Divergence and Expansion of Anopheles albimanus in Southern Central America

“…The mtDNA has proven to be extremely useful in identifying the population structure and demographic history in malaria vectors because of its lack of recombination and high levels of variability, and it has been used extensively to study anopheline mosquitoes in the Neotropics, allowing for comparison across species and geographic areas. 8,[21][22][23][24][25] In this study, we use partial sequences of the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and extensive sampling throughout southern Central America, to address the following questions: 1) Is there genetic differentiation in An. albimanus at this micro-geographic scale?…”

During the reign of frogs and toads

“…Zeisset and Beebee (2008) suggest that there may be a primary distinction between the more recent quaternary events (such as temperature fluctuation) acting on upland anurans, for example, harlequin toads, and earlier paleogeographic events, such as the Andean uplift and marine incursions that altered the direction of the Amazon, having a greater influence on lowland species, that is, poison frogs. Several recent studies have determined that the lineage divergence across several animal groups in the geologically complex Amazon Basin is best understood by the combination of two or more of these hypotheses (Aleixo, 2004;Noonan and Wray, 2006;Conn and Mirabello, 2007).…”