Abstract

The mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s. is a primary malaria vector throughout sub-Saharan Africa including the islands of the Comoros archipelago (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mayotte and Mohéli). These islands are located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in eastern Africa. Previous studies have shown a relatively high degree of genetic isolation between the Comoros islands and mainland populations of A. gambiae, but the origin of the island populations remains unclear. Here, we analyzed phylogenetic relationships among island and mainland populations using complete mitochondrial genome sequences of individual A. gambiae specimens. This work augments earlier studies based on analysis of the nuclear genome. We investigated the source population of A. gambiae for each island, estimated the number of introductions, when they occurred and explored evidence for contemporary gene flow between island and mainland populations. These studies are relevant to understanding historical patterns in the dispersal of this important malaria vector and provide information critical to assessing their potential for the exploration of genetic-based vector control methods to eliminate this disease. Phylogenetic analysis and haplotype networks were constructed from mitogenome sequences of 258 A. gambiae from the four islands. In addition, 112 individuals from seven countries across sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar were included to identify potential source populations. Our results suggest that introduction events of A. gambiae into the Comoros archipelago were rare and recent events and support earlier claims that gene flow between the mainland and these islands is limited. This study is concordant with earlier work suggesting the suitability of these oceanic islands as appropriate sites for conducting field trial releases of genetically engineered mosquitoes (GEMs).

Details

Title
Anopheles gambiae on remote islands in the Indian Ocean: origins and prospects for malaria elimination by genetic modification of extant populations
Author
Ditter, Robert E. 1 ; Campos, Melina 1 ; Crepeau, Marc W. 1 ; Pinto, João 2 ; Toilibou, Ali 3 ; Amina, Yssouf 3 ; Tantely, Luciano Michaël 4 ; Girod, Romain 4 ; Lee, Yoosook 5 ; Cornel, Anthony J. 1 ; Lanzaro, Gregory C. 1 

 UC Davis, Vector Genetics Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Davis, USA (GRID:grid.27860.3b) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9684) 
 Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene E Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal (GRID:grid.10772.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2151 1713) 
 Malaria Control Program, Moroni, Comoros (GRID:grid.10772.33) 
 Medical Entomology Unit, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Ambatofotsikely, Madagascar (GRID:grid.418511.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 0552 7303) 
 University of Florida, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Vero Beach, USA (GRID:grid.15276.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8091) 
Pages
20830
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2894183532
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.