title: Worldwide patterns of genetic differentiation imply multiple 'domestications' of Aedes aegypti, a major vector of human diseases.
abstract: Understanding the processes by which species colonize and adapt to human habitats is particularly important in the case of disease-vectoring arthropods. The mosquito species Aedes aegypti, a major vector of dengue and yellow fever viruses, probably originated as a wild, zoophilic species in sub-Saharan Africa, where some populations still breed in tree holes in forested habitats. Many populations of the species, however, have evolved to thrive in human habitats and to bite humans. This includes some populations within Africa as well as almost all those outside Africa. It is not clear whether all domestic populations are genetically related and represent a single 'domestication' event, or whether association with human habitats has developed multiple times independently within the species. To test the hypotheses above, we screened 24 worldwide population samples of Ae. aegypti at 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci. We identified two distinct genetic clusters: one included all domestic populations outside of Africa and the other included both domestic and forest populations within Africa. This suggests that human association in Africa occurred independently from that in domestic populations across the rest of the world. Additionally, measures of genetic diversity support Ae. aegypti in Africa as the ancestral form of the species. Individuals from domestic populations outside Africa can reliably be assigned back to their population of origin, which will help determine the origins of new introductions of Ae. aegypti.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. julia.brown@yale.edu
authors.forename: Julia E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Carolyn S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: Petrina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paupy
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bossin
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lutomiah
authors.forename: Ildefonso
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Salas
authors.forename: Alongkot
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ponlawat
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Cornel
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gorrochotegui-Escalante
authors.forename: Ludmel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Urdaneta-Marquez
authors.forename: Massamba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sylla
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slotman
authors.forename: Kristy O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Powell
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic