title: A new robust diagnostic polymerase chain reaction for determining the mating status of female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.
abstract: The principal malaria vector in Africa, Anopheles gambiae, contains two pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. The Y chromosome is only associated with males and other Y chromosome-specific DNA sequences, which are transferred to women during mating. A reliable tool to determine the mating status of dried wild An. gambiae females is currently lacking. DNA was extracted from dried virgin and mated females and used to test whether Y chromosome-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers can be successfully amplified and used as a predictor of mating. Here we report a new PCR-based method to determine the mating status among successfully inseminated and virgin wild An. gambiae females, using three male-specific primers. This dissection-free method has the potential to facilitate studies of both population demographics and gene flow from dried mosquito samples routinely collected in epidemiologic monitoring and aid existing and new malaria-vector control approaches.
authors.affiliation: Ifakara Health Research and Development Centre, Tanzania; Center for Vectorborne Diseases, University of California, Davis, California, USA. kija@ihrdc.or.tz
authors.forename: Kija R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Ng'habi
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: Bart G J
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Knols
authors.forename: Gregory C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Lanzaro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012098:Reproduction; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000737:chemistry*