title: Frequency of multiple inseminations in field-collected Anopheles gambiae females revealed by DNA analysis of transferred sperm.
abstract: We investigated the frequencies of single and multiple matings in field-collected female Anopheles gambiae by conducting microsatellite DNA analyses on the sperm contained within their spermatheca. Amplifcation by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at four loci allowed the detection of sperm extracts exhibiting more than two alleles per locus, thereby revealing the occurrence of multiple inseminations. Polyandry was found in six of 239 females examined, or 2.5% of the samples. Previous analyses of the molecular form of the sperm and female extracts using a PCR-based diagnostic procedure showed that two of these multiple inseminations involved cross-mating between two chromosomal/molecular forms of An. gambiae s.s. Thus polyandry occurred within-form in 1.7% of examined females while other multiple inseminations may be linked to processes of reproductive isolation between forms of An. gambiae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA. ftripet@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tripet
authors.forename: Yeya T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Touré
authors.forename: Guimogo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dolo
authors.forename: Gregory C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Lanzaro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000502:physiology*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D007314:Insemination / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal