Impact of the Rift Valley on Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Typing of the Major African Malaria Vector Anopheles funestus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Published in: Journal of medical entomology 2006-11, Vol.43 (6), p.1178-1184
• Main Authors: Koekemoer, Lizette L., Kamau, Luna, Garros, Claire, Manguin, Sylvie, Hunt, Richard H., Coetzee, Maureen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Africa, Eastern; Animals; Anopheles - classification; Anopheles - genetics; Anopheles - parasitology; Anopheles funestus; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Demography; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic markers; Genetics, Population; genotype; geographical distribution; Geography; insect vectors; Insect Vectors - classification; Insect Vectors - genetics; Insect Vectors - parasitology; Insecta; Invertebrates; malaria; Medically important nuisances and vectors, pests of stored products and materials: population survey and control; Molecular Sequence Data; Plasmodium; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; POPULATION BIOLOGY/GENETICS; population genetics; population structure; restriction fragment length polymorphism; restriction fragment length polymorphism types; Sequence Analysis, DNA; valleys; Vectors. Intermediate hosts
• ISSN: 0022-2585; 1938-2928
• DOI: 10.1603/0022-2585%282006%2943%5B1178%3AIOTRVO%5D2.0.CO%3B2

Anopheles funestus Giles (Diptera: Culicidae) is one of Africa’s major malaria vectors. To understand population structure within An. funestus, various molecular markers have recently been developed. We investigated the impact of the Rift Valley on one such molecular marker, a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). This system distinguishes An. funestus populations into types M, W, and MW. Generally, these types correlate between geographical location and RFLP type, whereby M associates essentially with eastern Africa, W with western and central Africa, and MW with southern Africa. In total, 606 specimens were screened from 12 countries. Specimens from southern African localities were of the expected MW-type with the exception of the sample from Malawi, which showed all three types. The specimens from Tanzania showed the M- and MW-types, whereas specimens from Kenya showed M- and W-types. We also recorded different RFLP types not recorded previously. Type Y was recorded in Malawi, and Z-type was recorded from four localities: Angola, Malawi, Ghana, and Zambia.