1. Natural diversity of the malaria vectorAnopheles gambiae
- Author
-
Bradley J. White, Craig S. Wilding, Dan Mead, Rachel Giacomantonio, Abdoulaye Diabaté, Kate Rowlands, Dominic P. Kwiatkowski, Charles M. Mbogo, Jim Stalker, Kenneth D. Vernick, Victoria Cornelius, Andrew D. Kern, Krzysztof Kluczynski, Ben Jeffrey, Joao Dinis, Alessandra della Torre, David Weetman, Matthew W. Hahn, Beniamino Caputo, Alison T. Isaacs, Lee Hart, Christina Hubbart, Kyanne R. Rohatgi, Martin J. Donnelly, Nohal Elissa, Ian Wright, Chris S Clarkson, Richard D. Pearson, Daniel E. Neafsey, Krzysztof Kozak, Christina M. Bergey, Diego Ayala, Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Anna E. Jeffreys, Paul Vauterin, Charles Godfray, Seth Redmond, Bronwyn MacInnis, Christa Henrichs, Michelle M. Riehle, João Pinto, Nicholas J. Harding, Cinzia Malangone, Kirk A. Rockett, Samantha M. O’Loughlin, Dushyanth Jyothi, Tiago Antao, Arlete D. Troco, Austin Burt, Henry Mawejje, Carlo Costantini, Janet Midega, Boubacar Coulibaly, Eleanor Drury, Michael C Fontaine, Igor V. Sharakhov, Giordano Bottà, Daniel R. Schrider, Philip Bejon, Alistair Miles, and Nora J. Besansky
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Genetic diversity ,biology ,Anopheles gambiae ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Genome ,03 medical and health sciences ,Mosquito control ,030104 developmental biology ,Evolutionary biology ,parasitic diseases ,Threatened species ,medicine ,Genetic variability ,Selection (genetic algorithm) ,Malaria - Abstract
The sustainability of malaria control in Africa is threatened by rising levels of insecticide resistance, and new tools to prevent malaria transmission are urgently needed. To gain a better understanding of the mosquito populations that transmit malaria, we sequenced the genomes of 765 wild specimens ofAnopheles gambiaeandAnopheles coluzziisampled from 15 locations across Africa. The data reveal high levels of genetic diversity, with over 50 million single nucleotide polymorphisms across the 230 Mbp genome. We observe complex patterns of population structure and marked variations in local population size, some of which may be due at least in part to malaria control interventions. Insecticide resistance genes show strong signatures of recent selection associated with multiple independent mutations spreading over large geographical distances and between species. The genetic variability of natural populations substantially reduces the target space for novel gene-drive strategies for mosquito control. This large dataset provides a foundation for tracking the emergence and spread of insecticide resistance and developing new vector control tools.
- Published
- 2016