Short report: Phylogenetic relationships of the anthropophilic Plasmodium falciparum malaria vectors in Africa.
Malaria kills more than one million people a year, and understanding the historical association between its most notorious causative agent, Plasmodium falciparum, and its mosquito vectors is important in fighting the disease. We present a phylogenetic analysis of a number of species within the mosquito subgenus Cellia based on a selection of mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Although some of these relationships have been estimated in other studies, generally few species were included and/or statistical support at many nodes was low. Here we include two additional species of anthropophilic P. falciparum malaria vectors and reanalyze these relationships using a Bayesian method that allows us to simultaneously incorporate different models of evolution. We report data that indicate a paraphyletic relationship between five anthropophilic African mosquito vectors. Such a relationship suggests that these species can serve as independent natural experiments for anopheline immunologic responses to regular, prolonged contact with P. falciparum.
Marshall
Jonathon C
JC
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 96520-8105, USA. jonathan.marshall@yale.edu
Powell
Jeffrey R
JR
Caccone
Adalgisa
A
D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000635:transmission*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV