Sequence analysis of the second internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA in Anopheles oswaldoi (Diptera: Culicidae).
Sequence divergence in the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA was examined for female specimens of Anopheles oswaldoi Peryassu from 7 localities in South America. The lengths of ITS2 for all mosquitoes ranged from 348 to 356 nucleotides. After alignment of these sequences, similarity ranged from 87 to 100%. Divergence was within the range of inter-specific differences for members of anopheline species complexes. Therefore, specimens were placed into 4 groups that may correspond to at least 4 cryptic species. One is probably related to An. oswaldoi sensu stricto and another to Anopheles konderi Galvão & Damasceno. The other 2 groups may correspond to species for which morphological identification remains to be clarified. These data provide evidence that An. oswaldoi comprise a complex of cryptic species and that DNA identification may help to resolve the taxonomic questions related to this group.
Marrelli
M T
MT
Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Malafronte
R S
RS
Flores-Mendoza
C
C
Lourenço-de-Oliveira
R
R
Kloetzel
J K
JK
Marinotti
O
O
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013020:South America
D004275:DNA, Ribosomal