Presence of Anopheles culicifacies B in Cambodia established by the PCR-RFLP assay developed for the identification of Anopheles minimus species A and C and four related species.
A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay developed for identification of five species of the Anopheles minimus Theobald group and a related mosquito species of the Myzomyia Series (Diptera: Culicidae) was applied to morphologically identified adult female specimens collected in Ratanakiri Province, north-eastern Cambodia. In addition to finding An. aconitus Dönitz, An. minimus species A and An. pampanai Büttiker & Beales, some specimens showed a new restriction banding pattern. Siblings of specimens that exhibited this new PCR-RFLP pattern were morphologically identified as An. culicifacies James sensu lato. Based on nucleotide sequences of the ribonuclear DNA internal transcribed spacer 2 region (ITS2) and the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI), these specimens were recognized as An. culicifacies species B (sensu Green & Miles, 1980), the first confirmed record of the An. culicifacies complex from Cambodia. This study shows that the PCR-RFLP assay can detect species not included in the initial set-up and is capable of identifying at least seven species of the Myzomyia Series, allowing better definition of those malaria vector and non-vector anophelines in South-east Asia.
Van Bortel
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W
Department of Parasitology, Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerpen, Belgium. wvbortel@itg.be
Sochanta
T
T
Harbach
R E
RE
Socheat
D
D
Roelants
P
P
Backeljau
T
T
Coosemans
M
M
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D002160:Cambodia; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D013045:Species Specificity