title: Sequence analysis of the second internal transcribed spacer of ribosomal DNA in Anopheles oswaldoi (Diptera: Culicidae).
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Marrelli
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Malafronte
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flores-Mendoza
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lourenço-de-Oliveira
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kloetzel
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Marinotti
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal